Identity
by TimeFactor
Summary: America's disappearance drags the nations into a mystery that forces them to face their inner selves. Hidden and unpleasant feelings are revealed, yet they're exactly what binds these friends together. What truths will those unraveling the case find?
1. Chapter 1

**Notes:**

**- This crossover is Hetalia with Persona 4 specifically. However the main focus is on the Hetalia cast, and only a few Persona 4 characters will play supporting roles.**

**- the only OCs are some of the main antagonists. Nations who have yet to appear in Hetalia canon are only mentioned, or at the very least never speak or never have their appearances described.  
**

**- Pairings: None. There are implications, maybe heavy ones, but nothing is outright stated (by the narrator anyway).  
**

* * *

**Chapter 1 - Midnight**

October 31st was a day America loved and hated. Free candy, costume parties, and massive amounts of fun were had all around. But this was also a day the man's worst fears sprang to life. Ghosts, goblins, and any other ghouls he could imagine would relentlessly haunt him to no end, and he didn't know why. Though normally the festivities (and bright lights) would distract him long enough for these "hallucinations" to go away.

However this year was an unusual change in tradition for America and some of the other nations. It was an experiment they wanted to try out: Horror Movie Night. Ever since more nations began showing up at the costume parties, some of them who didn't even observe Halloween, it had become more taxing to host, let alone plan, these worldwide gatherings. In a situation like this, most agreed they wanted to save those occasions for a more universal holiday like Christmas or New Year's.

It was true some of the nations had already done something like this before, but the purpose was more "I wanna prove a point!" rather than "Let's just hang out!" as America put it. Still, only a handful were willing to participate. While this was happening, the remaining nations would continue hosting another Halloween bash.

"Perhaps this was a bad idea..."

England and a few others were gathered outside a large mansion. It was a fenced property along the Californian coastline. The elevation provided a great view of the ocean, although there was not much to see with the dark rain clouds and distant fog rolling in.

The mansion itself could only be described as "unique". There was simply no clear architectural style. On one side it was Romanesque, and on the other it was Gothic. And that only covered an area spanning three windows. Eastern curved roofs sat atop marble walls. Torches were mounted by glass windows. And there was a stone tower housing a wooden balcony accessible by an electric sliding door. In a way the nations could all relate, this was like someone taking their statements and running it through an online translator.

"Well look who's here!"

America had appeared from the doorway already dressed in his pajamas, a simple t-shirt of red, white, and blue and a pair of white pants. In contrast, a group of formally dressed maids appeared behind him. They each began taking everyone's overnight bags before disappearing inside the mansion.

"So?" he said raising his thumbs and pointing behind himself. "What do ya think, guys?"

"That abomination of a home or that ridiculous outfit?" asked England.

"Hey! One: _You're _the one who gave me this! Two: I went through a _lot_ of trouble to build this place! And it's still a work in progress!"

"You mean there's _more_?" Germany said in a hesitant tone normally reserved for Italy's antics.

America nodded. "Yeah, but the unfinished stuff is mostly for the guys not here. Everything else is fully operational!"

"If I may be so bold," said Japan, "may I ask for the reason for this...design-choice?"

"Well, I was thinking about this whole 'Movie Night' thing." He then pointed at the others. "If we're all going to be spending the night at someone's house, why not make everyone feel at home? So a couple of my bros and I got together and came up with the _awesome_ idea to build a Super Mansion with rooms specifically made for each country!" He pulled out a map and pointed at the northeastern section. "I was gonna put it somewhere like New York, but the coastline was pretty much hogged up already so I had to settle for scenic California!" His smile then turned into a pout. "But dumb Mother Nature decided to make it rainy for the next few days..."

England sighed. "America, I know you're a melting pot, but this is just taking it to ridiculous extremes..."

"I like it!" exclaimed Italy, then pointed to the corner of the eastern wing. "Is that the Torre di Pisa over there? You even got the degree right!"

"Yup!" America said proudly. "That's part of your room!"

"Oh no," said England. "Don't tell us you built miniature versions of our national monuments in our rooms."

"You don't want Big Ben watching you in your sleep?"

"No! It's just-" He sighed again. "You could've offended us by your choices is all."

"What? You'd think I'd purposely give Germany Checkpoint Charlie or something?"

"Wait," said Germany. "What _did_ you give me?"

"Hehe... I couldn't really decide on one place. So I just ended up designing the interior like one of your old castles. Neuschwanstein," he said in accented German. "Did I pronounce that right?"

Germany shrugged. "It'll have to do."

"So which one did you give me?" asked France. "The Arc de Triomphe? Notre-Dame? The Louvre?" He chuckled. "Or perhaps I'll be pranked when I find multiple statues of Lady Liberty?"

"Hahaha! I wish I thought of that! But ain't it obvious though?"

"Just gambling to see if you would actually pick something more obscure for a change. Even by a little bit, America."

"And Japan gets Tokyo Tower! It was either that or a miniature Mount Fuji!"

"Um...really?" asked Japan.

America hung an arm around him. "I know! A little too modern compared to the rest, but I really didn't want to rig the furnace up from the basement for the sake of accuracy. Don't worry though! I put some of your famous shrines and zen gardens for good measure!"

"America...I know you mean well, but you should know that**—**"

Japan didn't have time to finish as England dragged his brother away. It was a considerable distance, but the other nations could still easily hear the Englishman's voice.

"What the bloody hell were you thinking?! This was _exactly_ what I was talking about!"

"What's so offensive about the Tokyo Tower?"

"Not the Tower! The shrines!"

America continued staring unfazed.

"Sacred spaces? Kami?! How Eastern cultures place more emphasis on respecting the dead and other deities?!"

America's eyes went wide. He then bolted towards Japan and dove for the ground in front of him. "I'm so sorry, Japan!" he exclaimed frantically while holding the man's legs. "I don't know what the hell I was thinking!"

"It's okay," said Japan with nervous smile. "I'll just**—**"

"No! It's not okay! I screwed up big time!" He stopped to think for a moment. "Oh! Take China's room! It's still not done so the influences he had on you should be Japanese enough!"

"I...appreciate the thought, America, but I believe I would prefer just using the sleeping bag I brought."

"You sure?" he asked still whimpering. "I can just give you one of the blank rooms if you really don't want it..."

"He can stay with me!" exclaimed Italy. "We'll make _pasta_ together!"

"I don't mind either," said Germany. "It would certainly be quieter compared to rooming with...mein Bruder."

Japan bowed. "Thank you for the offers. I will consider them later."

"If we're done making America feel worse than he already is," said France, "may I suggest we go inside now? I believe I felt a few raindrops touch my skin."

"Might as well," said England. "I just want to get this night over with..."

America stood up and began leading the others inside. "If you didn't want to come, why'd you bother volunteering for this in the first place?"

"Last year's..._mishap_ is still fresh in the others' minds. I don't think I want to be at a party where every single joke is about me."

"I'm just surprised I wasn't the one who caused it," said France. "It's a shame I wasn't there until the climax~"

"Oh, I remember that!" exclaimed Italy. "When Norway and Belarus took your fancy book and then**—**!"

"Shut up!" England said flustered. "How was I supposed to know?! I didn't think I'd ever seen them interact before outside of meetings!"

"I'll admit," said Germany, "I didn't think they would actually team up like that either...and be so effective."

"They did have a common goal," Japan added.

"Can we _please_ put that behind us? You don't see me bringing up _your_ past humiliations!"

America and France glared at the unaware Briton.

"If it makes you feel better," said Germany, "I scolded Prussia and made him promise to never mention it again."

"Thank you, Germany," he said sincerely. "It's good to know that the probability of people remembering that incident has been greatly reduced."

"Again," France interrupted, "can we please go inside? I think we're forgetting why we're here in the first place."

None of the other nations responded and hurried inside, not wanting to further lose themselves in conversation. The only one still outside was a blonde man forcing a smile on his face.

"Um, guys? America? Nobody took my bag yet..."

* * *

The home theater was massive, comparable to an opera house. If it was only meant for the nations, it definitely housed more seats than them, and that was including their lesser territories and the other unrecognized countries. America was urging the others towards the long concession stand stocked with snacks and soft drinks he typically served at his movie theaters.

"You like? I was running out of time so I only got to stock it with what was on-hand."

"You don't honestly expect us to engorge ourselves on all of that junk food, do you?" asked England.

He nonchalantly waved his hand. "Don't worry. I'll take care of the leftovers. This was originally just my midnight snack anyway. I can live without it."

"And yet you _still_ come to us for dietary suggestions?" asked France.

America only ignored him and continued. "Oh, dudes! There's one more place I have to show you before we get things started!"

The nations followed America through a side door into a large chamber. Inside were tall racks lining the walls of this seemingly endless room. Most of them were DVDs or Blu-rays, but one could easily spot boxes of obsolete video formats surprisingly free of dust and appearing brand new.

"Straight from my secret stash in Hollywood! And I promise that none of these are pirated!"

"How many are there?" asked Japan.

He shrugged. "Dunno. I never counted. But I'm pretty sure I've got almost, if not definitely, every single movie ever made!"

England began browsing the section labeled with his name. "You did remember that some of us have stricter censorship standards than you, right?"

"Don't worry! I got rid of most of them before you got here."

"Most? Oh dear..."

America waited until the others had separated before approaching England. "Geez, dude. Why are you so on my case today? I know I screwed up with Japan's rooming, but can't you have a little more faith?"

"You not the most considerate nation," he said picking up a DVD case. "It just worries me what unnecessary situation you'll get yourself into next."

"So you're worried about me?" he asked grinning.

England didn't respond and continued browsing. "Oh, look. _Doctor Who_ categorized in its own section..."

"I thought it was your favorite..." he said in a disappointed tone.

"Ooo~ I've always wanted to see this one!" exclaimed Italy from two racks over, holding one of America's horror movies. "But Germany wouldn't watch it with me because he banned it..."

"That's not the reason," Germany told the others. "He always invites too many of his friends and I end up classifying it as a 'public showing' on a technicality, thus making it illegal for me to watch. And I can't watch it at his house because Romano always hides the movie."

"But now we're at America's place! Plus it's only six of us so let's watch!"

He grabbed the case from Italy's hands. "Why do you want to watch this anyway? It has more gore than actual horror..."

"Ve~ I just want to show you that I can be braver by your side!"

"Let's just pick a few movies that none of us have banned," said France. "It'll be easier for all of us."

"I agree," said Japan.

America rushed to a nearby shelf. "Oh! Then we have to watch this one! It hasn't even hit my theatres yet!"

* * *

"Is that...a Transformer?"

The nations had been sitting quietly in theatre watching America's suggested film for the past hour. They weren't speaking because they were so engrossed by the film, but rather they were struggling to put their reactions into words, particularly the scene where the monster revealed himself to be a giant sentient robot.

The smirking American leaned over his armrest. "Pretty genius, huh?"

"_Transformers_ wasn't even a horror movie!" exclaimed England. "How the bloody hell is this _satire_?!"

"I'm not sure if I should be offended," muttered Japan, "or worried for the extent of America's ignorance..."

"To parody how horror movies aren't really scary anymore!" exclaimed America. "We're becoming more and more desensitized!"

"Uh, I think Italy would disagree," said France. The cowering Italian was clinging to France's coat and hiding his face. "While I am honored that you've chosen me to be your protector from America's so-called 'monsters', Italy, why aren't you hiding behind Germany?"

"He went to the toilette," he said quickly, "and you were the closest one here!"

"Oh, Italie~! Don't worry! I'll protect you!"

England immediately stood up and turned around to face the Frenchman. "Touch him any further, and I will personally rip out the Mini-Eiffel just to stab you with it!"

"Hm? You're defending Italy now? Weren't you the one who suggested spreading false rumors about him?"

"That was the past! And being with you is a fate he doesn't deserve!"

"Ohon? Are you saying you want me all to yourself? Why...Arthur, this is all too much~! And with all of our friends here to witness our romance~!"

"That was neither a compliment nor a confession, you twit!"

Once again, England and France were engaged in another round of their back and forth insults. By now most of the nations had grown accustomed to their bickering and learned how to tune them out.

"C'mon, guys! You're missing the best part!" America sighed as he stood up. He quietly squeezed past the wrestling nations and took a seat next to Japan. "So dude, what do you think so far?"

"It's...entertaining," said Japan, "_and I use that word very loosely._"

He patted him on the back. "Thanks, bro! You also might want to know that I was thinking about adapting another manga! I'm narrowing it down to _Naruto_ or _One Piece_! Maybe both since that 'Pirate vs Ninja' fad is still pretty popular! By the way, are they post-apocalyptic futures? Y'know, the kind after humanity's already recovered and rebuilt society or something like that? Because I am still questioning how ninjas have radios and film crews in feudal times!"

Japan looked away. "Um, perhaps you should reconsider _making_ the actual movie first..."

While America continued pestering Japan about even more Western adaptations of his works, Germany finally returned from his trip to the restroom. "Chaos" was the only word he could describe what he found. The quarreling rivals had made their way towards the concession stand and were pelting each other with whatever they could get their hands on. Italy was desperately waving his white flags around them and trying to place one in their hands. But even if he was successful, it just ended up being another projectile.

"_And here I thought it would be _less _chaotic than the party..._"

* * *

It was only an hour until midnight and the nations were already heading up the main staircase. England, France, and Italy were covered in condiments with soda dripping from their clothes. The others were also stained from misaimed tosses but not to the extent of the aforementioned nations.

"Well that was a failure," said England. "Say, if we borrowed Air Force One, do you think we'd be able to—Oh right, time zones..."

France was wiping ketchup off his pants. "I'm just glad I didn't change first when I got here."

"Speak for yourself!" America exclaimed holding the collar of his shirt. "This was one of my favorites!"

Germany was examining his sleeves. "Where can I wash this off?"

"Every has their own bathroom. Though there's a public bath near the center if you guys really want to use it. Laundry's downstairs, but you can ask a maid to do it."

"Ve~ That sounds nice! Do you want to join me, Germany?"

The German stared at him, blushing for a few seconds. "Fine, but we have to get that mustard off first and—Is that barbeque sauce?"

"I thought it was melted chocolate?" he said wiping a brown substance from his hair.

"America," said England, "please just tell us which way our rooms are..."

America stopped sniffing his stains. "Oh uh...you, France, and I are on the west wing. Germany, Italy, and Japan have the east wing. The doors have your flags on them."

"Thank you." was all England said before he headed down the hallway with France following not long afterward. Once they were gone, America turned to face the former Axis Powers.

"Sorry about all that," he said with nervous laughter.

"Don't blame yourself," said Germany. "Their fighting is older than you are."

"I'm used to it!" exclaimed Italy.

"It's nothing you should worry yourself about," said Japan. "It's when they _stop_ fighting that you should be worried."

America rubbed his head. "Haha! I guess you're right!" He started off and waved back. "See you guys in the morning!"

* * *

Canada was standing in front of his room. He repeated that to himself. _He was standing in front of his room._ Like usual, everyone seemed to have forgotten he was actually there. No servant to pick up his things, getting locked inside America's movie room until a passing maid came to investigate the "strange noises", and nobody to wake him up when he dozed off during the movie. He wondered if the only reason he was still here was because he had no ride home.

When he had finally awoken to a blank theater screen, Canada found himself covered in candy and pop. Looking around, he found the theater a gigantic mess with a snack trail leading outside. He assumed England and France had another argument again causing everyone to leave. Glancing at his watch, it was about an hour past midnight so he decided to head upstairs. It was better than sleeping on a sticky theater seat smelling like cherries anyway.

Canada had assumed his brother forgot about him again so he began searching for one of those "blank rooms". He followed the snack trail upstairs into the west wing where it eventually split into three directions, each leading to his family's respective flags. Canada was about to knock on America's door until he spotted something from the corner of his eye. His flag was right next-door: red, white square, maple leaf, everything.

With anticipation, he hurried inside to find a room that greatly resembled his own home. Though it was strangely absent of any his historical sites like America had mentioned. On his bed, Canada found a note clearly in his brother's handwriting.

_"Hey Matt,_

_ Don't know why you didn't show up today, but in case you do like in the middle of the night or something, I want to say sorry that your room's not completely finished yet. I couldn't decide if you wanted something from Quebec or not. I get really confused on whether you want something English or French. Anyway, tell me in the morning...or whenever we see each other. I'll get started on it right away!_

_ Your Favorite Brother and Best Hero of All Time,_

_ Alfred_

"He actually remembered this time..." Canada _had_ to thank him. He hurried outside but quickly stopped himself upon reaching America's door. "_He could be sleeping... But when has a few minutes of lost sleep ever affected him that badly?_" He looked down and saw a faint glow under the door. "He's probably watching some late-night anime." He then knocked. "America? You still awake? Did you fall asleep watching TV again?"

No response.

"Alfred? I'm coming in, eh." Canada slowly opened the door and stuck his head inside. "Al? You in here?"

The room was a mess, the stereotypical American teenager kind of mess. The only things actually clean were the miniature models of America's monuments and the television displaying a static channel. The bed was empty although a few clothes were laid on the side facing the bathroom. Canada switched on the lights and called for his brother again.

"America?"

After navigating through his brother's junk piles, Canada investigated the next room. Turning on the lights, he found an open shower but no water running. Towards the side was an open hamper on the verge of overflowing. Resting on top were the pajamas America had worn.

_Okay. He was here, but where else could he have gone?_

Canada returned to the bedroom and then headed towards the closet. He pulled the handle only to find it stuck. He then rolled back his sleeves and tried again, this time with more force.

_C'mon! Open...! Ah! Got it__—Oh my God!_

Canada immediately dove to the side, narrowly avoiding being crushed by the mountain of clothing that awaited him.

"America," he said trying to regain his breath, "if this is a prank, you can jump out and scare me now. I have no idea where else you could hide."

Still no response.

He needed help now. Canada climbed over his brother's bed and ran across the hall to the United Kingdom door. It was a few knocks before its self-proclaimed gentleman finally answered.

"America?" he said rubbing his eyes, barely half-open. "What do you want...? And why haven't you showered yet? Do you want me to bathe you again?"

"Um, I'm Canada. And _what_?"

"Hm?" England motioned his head up and down. "Oh, yes. You're right. If you're looking for your brother, he's the door across from me. Though you might want to wash up first. You smell ghastly."

"I realize that, and I already tried his room. I was wondering if you know where else he could be."

"You try France or Japan yet?"

"Not yet, but thanks—"

"Hold on, I'll try that idiot."

Still droopy-eyed, England headed next-door, carefully trying to avoid stepping on the food trail. Instead of knocking, he banged on the door as loud as he could.

"Hey! Is America in there with you?!"

"Go away, s'il te plaît!"

"Just answer my question and I'll leave!"

In a few seconds, the door opened. "No. He's not."

"Good night then."

"I wish." France slammed the door as England turned back towards Canada.

"Try Japan. He's probably in Germany or Italy's room."

"Okay. Thanks, eh."

England lazily nodded and slowly headed back to his room. "Mmhm... Good night, America."

Before running off, Canada returned to his room and tossed his sagging jacket onto the bed. The concentrated smell had been starting to become much more unbearable to his nose.

The first room he found was Italy's, but there was no response each time he knocked. After five minutes of knocking, Canada finally gave up.

Next came Germany's door. There was a bright light coming from the bottom crack, probably from a lamp. Pressing an ear against the surface, it sounded like there were multiple people inside.

"This all seems so unnecessarily complicated," said Japan.

"It's pretty easy in my opinion!" exclaimed Italy.

"How in the world did you figure this out so quickly?" asked Germany. "You had practically zero experience before we started this."

"Oh, America taught me! Isn't that funny? Although he's not as good as you, Germany!"

"Eh?!" Canada's hand slipped and accidentally turned the knob. The door soon burst open as he fell forward. "Ow..."

"Hm?" Italy turned around and stared at the fallen nation. "Ah, America! Perfect timing!"

Canada looked up and—to his relief—saw the former Axis seated around a table. They were holding cards and judging by the suits, they were using Germany's deck.

"Want to play Skat with us?"

"Please decline," Japan begged, "I can barely follow these three-player games."

"Is it really that difficult?" asked Germany.

"Um, I would love to," Canada replied to Italy as he stood up, "but I'm looking for my brother."

"You have a brother?" asked Italy.

"America! I'm his brother, Canada!"

His head tilted for a moment. "Oh yeah! Now I remember! Did you try England or Francypants?"

"Yes! They told me to come here though."

"He's not in his room?" asked Germany.

He shook his head. "Empty."

"America probably got up to make a new midnight snack," said Japan. "Or at least that's what he usually does when he stays at my house."

"I think I would've heard him devouring all those innocent hamburgers, eh."

"Would you like us to help find him?" asked Germany.

He waved his hand. "Oh, I wouldn't want to keep all of you up on a possibly wild goose chase!"

"It's fine," he said reaching for his coat. "None of us were planning on sleeping anyway. Italy will just have multiple nightmares if he goes to bed now, and Japan's time zone is keeping him awake."

* * *

England exited his room and was making his way towards the foyer. He was already dressed in casual attire, and his overnight bag was slung over his shoulder. He was slightly worried about staining his relatively new shoes, but thankfully the hallway mess was clean now.

_I must remember to commend those women if they're willing to put up with messes like those on a daily basis._

He stopped at the top of the staircase when he smelled a familiar aroma, one that he would never admit to enjoying.

_Must be France cooking... But why is he cooking his main courses?_

England followed the smell to the mansion's kitchen and was met with a odd sight. As originally expected, France was using the stove and laying out a buffet on the counter. The unusual part was the two men seated with the other nations.

"Is that all you can remember?" one of them asked.

Germany nodded. "Ja."

The man then turned his attention to the new arrival. "Ah, Mister..." He glanced at his notepad. "Kirkland. I'm sure you're familiar with the procedure, but would you please answer a few questions for us? And given your apparent background, perhaps you can also assist us."

"What's going on?" England said warily as he set down his bag.

"It appears your...'brother', I believe, has gone missing."

"What?!" He turned to the other nations. "Why didn't any of you wake me up?!"

"I tried!" Canada protested. "But you kept on mumbling 'Alfred leave me alone' so you could go back to sleep!"

"I'll review what we know so far," the officer began. "Around 11:00 PM, everyone headed upstairs to either sleep or take a shower. All except Mr. Williams who was apparently still asleep in the movie theater. Between 11:10 PM and 11:45 PM, Mister..." He paused and looked to Germany. "Um, did I get your last name?"

"It's...a personal matter," Germany replied. "I'll write it down for you, but I don't like it being spoken aloud."

"Very well. Continuing on... Between the previously said time period, Ludwig and Mr. Vargas were inside the public bath. Afterward, they headed back to Ludwig's room where they stayed until learning about Mr. Jones' disappearance." He flipped the page. "Mr. Honda claims to have been in Ludwig's room watching television ever since he arrived upstairs. Mr. Bonnefoy, after taking a private shower, claims to have immediately went to bed. The only moment he got up was when a Mr. Kirkland began banging on his door." He looked up at the Briton. "Is this true?"

England nodded, now blushing.

"What about you? Your alibi?"

"The same as...Mr. Bonnefoy. Only I got up because Alfred's brother, Matthew, came to my door."

"Oh yes. I almost forgot about him." He turned back a few pages. "After waking up at around 1:00 AM, Mr. Williams followed a messy trail you and your friends left behind upstairs. Unfortunately, we weren't able to preserve that evidence before the servants arrived and cleaned it up. After entering his room, he soon left to check on Mr. Jones. Investigating further, he found the room empty, but there were possible signs that Mr. Jones had recently been in there."

"Which were?"

"Clothes laid out on the bed and a static TV."

"Ah..."

"Mr. Williams then proceeded to your room which led to your encounter with Mr. Bonnefoy. While you two went back to sleep, Mr. Williams then went by himself to Mr. Vargas' room, rightly believed it to be empty, and finally went inside Ludwig's room."

"Obviously, no one claims responsibility for my brother's disappearance."

"Any other details that can help?"

England thought for a moment before looking at the other nations. "Anyone know a reason for Alfred to NOT leave his room?"

"Doesn't one of television channels here have an anime night once a week?" asked Japan. "I remember him mentioning before how he stayed up all night on a specific day because he wanted to see the finale of _Code Geass_."

"That would only account for midnight and later," the other man replied.

"Wait," said the detective, "he could have had access to the eastern broadcast."

"Assuming these are true," said England, "Alfred should have been in his room..." He turned to Canada. "Matthew, did you have a reason to believe America was in his room?"

Canada was quietly thinking. "Well, there was more of that messy trail leading to his room. I thought he got dirty like you and Francis and went to take a shower."

"But America was practically clean besides a few stains on his shirt and pants. He couldn't have left a trail..."

"Which narrows down the suspects to you and Mr. Bonnefoy," the detective announced.

The room was silent long enough for everyone to hear the sound of a frying pan hit the floor. Soon suspicious glares were all cast at France.

"W-Wait! Attendez!" He waved his hands frantically. "I was just surprised you would accuse moi! Alfred and I have been friends for years! Well...maybe not on the social level, but I would never hurt the boy!"

"Mr. Kirkland?"

"Now hold on!" exclaimed England. "What reason would I have to harm my little brother?! Sure, we argue, but that's what siblings do! You can ask my older brothers!"

"Older?" the detective repeated while writing down more notes. "So if we were approaching this psychologically, you could've been acting on your feelings of neglect from being the middle child..."

"That's absurd!"

"It was just a suggestion," he said calmly. "Some studies show being the middle child actually has _positive_ effects contrary to popular belief." He wrote down even more notes. "Now, assuming both of you are innocent. The only other possibility is..."

"An intruder," Germany finished for him.

Italy let out a horrified scream. "You mean there was another stranger here last night?! Ahhhhh!"

"Another stranger?"

"I mean Canada! Waaahhh!" The Canadian growled at this.

"Does this place have a security system?" the detective asked.

"This mansion is still under construction," England replied, "even if there was one, a few holes in the grid could still be easily exploited."

"I'll go ask if there is one," said Japan as he wandered off to find the caretaker.

"But wouldn't that require the schematics for it?" asked Germany. "It would have to be someone close to Alfred if that was the case."

"We still don't know if he was definitely kidnapped," said the detective, "but given Mr. Jones' apparent status as a _very_ important man..."

"...I think we need more time to discuss this further," said England. "I believe you two can leave now. We'll contact you if we discover or remember any new information."

The detective and his partner stood up and shook everyone's hand. "Thank you for your time. I hope your friend turns up soon. He certainly has...an impressive variety of friends judging by your accents. I wouldn't be surprised if he knew someone from every country."

"You'd be surprised."

England escorted the pair outside where their police car was waiting. The Briton waved goodbye, watching them drive out the front gate.

Upon returning to the kitchen, England saw Japan had returned but with a grave expression and holding something in his hand.

"Japan, did you find something?"

"I couldn't find the caretaker, but I did find a security room. America had some hidden cameras set up in public areas. I managed to find last night's footage and print a frame from it."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Show us."

Japan hesitated, but he eventually placed the photograph on the table. "It's just that...I'm not sure if what I saw was even _human_."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 - Youth**

_Rewind...Play...Rewind...Play..._

Ever since he returned home, England had shut himself in his room, only coming out when he was hungry. He was reviewing the security footage Japan had copied for him, constantly replaying them for hours. And it was only three clips: the theater, the foyer, and the hallway.

"There has to be _something_ I'm missing..."

England played the theater footage once again. The first thing he noticed was the sleeping Canadian cuddling one of the seat cushions. The Briton skipped to the middle at around midnight where the strangeness occurred. Almost instantaneously a shadowed humanoid figure, possibly feminine, appeared near the concession stand. England would have assumed the camera was starting to act faulty, but the figure was standing very close to Canada who was clearly visible. It walked past the unaware nation and out the door.

Switching to the foyer camera, England saw the figure head upstairs. It momentarily stopped halfway to look back towards the front doorway. England would have attributed this as a reaction to thunder or lightning, but that night only had a heavy downpour.

Finally the hallway footage showed the figure approaching America's door. It was leaving behind an additional trail after dragging itself in the others so often. Soon there was knocking. The door opened and shut. Nobody ever came out.

The other nations had gone back to search the room again for any alternate exits. Knowing America, he could've had a secret passageway built inside. When the search came up empty, they were stumped about what to do next. Germany, Italy, France, and Canada wanted to turn in the newly discovered footage, but England and Japan argued against it. Their only reason was a "strange feeling" from watching the footage. After an short debate, England and Japan decided to back down but were allowed to take copies of the tapes home.

England leaned back and stretched his arms. "There's _something_ going on here, but I don't have the faintest clue of why I'm thinking this..."

The Briton continued reviewing the footage until there was a knock on his door.

"Mr. Kirkland? You have a guest who wishes to see you."

"Who is it?"

"A Mr. Honda."

"Send him in."

In a few seconds, a maid opened the door and allowed Japan to step inside before returning to her duties.

"Japan, is there something I can help you with?"

"Any progress finding America?"

England shook his head. "None so far. I've been getting calls from the nations who weren't with us expressing their condolences. Though really, they're acting like he's died." He sighed. "What about you?"

"That's why I came. Though...I'm not sure if what I found is remotely related."

"Anything is better than nothing."

"I suppose you're right... Have you ever heard of the Midnight Channel?"

"Is it a Japanese network?"

"No. It's more of an urban legend, a very obscure one." He took a seat in front of England's desk. "It is said that if one would stare at the screen of a closed television, alone, at midnight during a heavy rain, one could see their soulmate."

England let out a small laugh. "America has no time for a soulmate!"

"Possibly, but what about those other details? America's disappearance could've happened around midnight, and there was some heavy rain after we went inside the mansion."

"I don't know... A Japanese phenomenon occurring in the United States?"

"You forget that something in one culture could very well be present in another. Just adapted and under a different name."

"I suppose..."

"There's also America's TV. When we investigated his room again, it was already off. Did Canada ever mention touching the television?"

"No," he said, eyes going wide. "He immediately left and came to my room."

Japan nodded. "I think we should see if this legend is real."

* * *

"Remind me why I'm here again?"

After a quick phone call, Canada, England, and Japan had met back at the mansion in America's room. It was tidier now thanks to Germany's pet peeve of uncleanliness, but some felt it made the room more ominous, especially when remembering what happened here.

"You never touched this television, correct?" said England.

Canada shook his head. "Why?"

"TVs don't turn off by themselves." He paused. "Well unless you use the Sleep function, but I doubt America even knows that exists."

"So...the TV...kidnapped America?"

"We don't know if that's the case," said Japan, "but if this legend is true, there could be something otherworldly involved."

"What are we supposed to do?"

"Just be quiet and watch the screen," said England. The others sat down on the bed while he glanced at his watch. "It's raining and there's a few more seconds until midnight."

The three nations began staring at the television. Canada was the only person to look away, still unsure about what was happening. Soon the screen came to life on its own. The image was very blurry, but it was slowly clearing into a stable video feed.

"Hey, everyone!" shouted a voice only familiar to England and Canada.

America as a child was happily jumping in front of whatever camera was filming him. He was dressed in one of the outfits England had given him during their colonial days. The young nation was carrying a musket that was definitely taller than him, though it didn't hinder his stature the slightest. In the background was the entrance to a dense forest. There were no other distinct features, but England assumed this was somewhere in what would become modern-day Pennsylvania or New York.

"Papa's gonna to take me on my first day hunting! I'll get to shoot a rabbit, a deer, a moose, and best of all: a grizzly bear! And if I get really lucky, Papa's letting me shoot a 'special surprise'! And Mama's gonna cook a big buffet tonight when we're done too!" He stopped to pose with his gun. After a few seconds, he looked back at the camera. "Did you get all that, Mattie?"

The camera made a nodding motion.

"Awesome! I can't wait!" America turned as the camera displayed a log cabin. "C'mon, Papa! Hurry up! I'm all ready to go! I've been practicing my aim a lot lately!"

The video cut off into static before the television finally switched off.

"Was that...a family memory?" asked asked.

"I don't remember filming America like that," said Canada.

"Cameras weren't even invented yet," said England. "And even if they were, that was in _color_ which is even _more_ impossible!"

"Is this a fake video then?"

He crossed his arms. "It has to be. America never referred to me as Papa or...'Mama'. But that was definitely his voice before he went through puberty."

"Did anyone notice his eyes?" asked Japan. "They had a golden tint to them. I could barely see any of his natural blue. And his voice was a little distorted, maybe even demonic."

"An imposter?"

"But this still doesn't tell us where America went," said Canada.

England stood up and examined the television more closely. He leaned forward and slowly began reaching for the screen.

"Canada. Didn't you suggested that the TV 'kidnapped' America? Maybe it's possible that—Augh!" England's hand phased through the screen. His surprise soon caused him to tumble forward.

"Ah! England!"

Japan and Canada managed to seize the man's legs, but it didn't stop them from falling inside as well. Once they reached the other side, the nations plummeted a few meters before landing on top of each other.

"Owww..." England raised his head and spit out tufts of grass. "Ugh, I think I got dirt in my teeth!"

"Is everyone okay?" asked Japan.

"Maple..."

"Oh, Canada! I'm so sorry!" Japan quickly assisted the Canadian off England.

"Japan, are you wearing some kind of armor under your uniform? That really hurt!"

He looked confused. "I don't believe so, but..." He then pointed to something behind Canada. "Did you have that weapon before?"

Canada reached over his shoulder and felt the stock of a gun. "Eh?! Why do I have a sniper rifle?!"

"Huh?" Japan had accidentally gripped the hilt of a blade when trying to put a hand in his pocket. "I don't remember bringing a katana..."

"I think I landed on something as well," England said as he picked himself up on his knees. Lying where his chest had been was a large black book. "Hm? A tome?" The Briton picked it up and skimmed through its pages. "It's full of incantations and curses..."

"This is like something from one of my manga," said Japan.

"Are we trapped in a TV show?" asked Canada.

"I wouldn't say 'trapped'," England replied pointing behind his friends. "I believe that's our exit over there."

Nearby were a few large televisions individually stacked into a tall pile. They seemed to be fully functional despite not being connected to a power source.

"Great! Let's go home before something bad happens, eh?"

"Hold on," said England. "Don't you realize where we are?"

Looking around, Japan and Canada immediately recognized the nearby log cabin. Candlelight escaped from the windows, and there was smoke was rising from the chimney.

"Are we inside that video?"

England moved around back and opened the door. Inside was a fresh steaming dinner laid out on a table. The only things missing were the actual inhabitants. The furniture seemed untouched, as if someone had just cleaned it. However there were strangely no signs of anyone leaving or entering.

"It's empty."

"...Let's go after him," said England.

"Hm?"

"That fake America said he was going to hunt for some game. I don't think I want to find out what that 'special surprise' is."

* * *

America slowly awoke from what seemed like the longest dream he ever had. He was lying on his back in the middle of a dark forest. When trying to rub his eyes, America accidentally hit his glasses.

_Huh? Didn't I leave these on the nightstand?_

The next thing he noticed were the sleeves of his signature bomber jacket.

"What the hell? When did I put this on?"

At least it was the only piece of outdated clothing. Apparently he had changed into a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers before he got here.

_Let's see. I was about to get in the shower for a quick rinse when...what? I can't remember... No wait! Someone knocked on the door. It was probably England so I opened it and then...now I don't remember..._

As America stood up, a dense fog quickly began to roll in. He could barely see past the first few trees now.

"Aw great. How am I supposed to get out of here now?"

"I can tell you!" said a cheerful voice.

Without thinking, America turned around. "Really, dude?! Awesome! That would be—" That last word was stuck in his throat when he finally saw who he was speaking to.

"Want to play a game~?" asked Young America.

* * *

"Wh-Wh-Wha—?! What the heck are these things?!"

After wandering through the forest, Canada and his friends encountered a group of strange monsters shortly after a dense fog appeared. They started out as slimy, black life forms with blue masks. Then they suddenly morphed into large floating orbs. Soon they solidified into a pink color with dark circular stripes. Finally mouths formed with long black drooling tongues.

"They're disgusting!" exclaimed England. "Who in the right mind would create these things?!"

Japan gripped his katana. "Get ready, you two!"

The first monster charged forward. England and Canada dove to the side as Japan drew his blade and delivered a few successive slashes. The creature soon crashed into the ground and faded from reality.

Japan held up his sword, twisting it in his hand as he examined each side. "It seems our weapons are augmented to be more powerful than they would be in real life."

"Is that so?" asked England. "I wonder..." He opened his book to a certain page and began chanting. The text was glowing as the Briton became surrounded by a yellow aura. "Get out of my sight!"

Roaring thunder was heard as lightning came crashing down on the monsters. They seemed particularly weak to this attack as most of them disappeared upon being struck. Those that survived fell to the ground unconscious.

"I'll get the rest, eh!"

Canada readied his rifle and carefully fired precise shots. Each bullet caused the monsters to implode once struck.

"All clear! I don't see any more!"

English sighed with relief and stared at his tome. "Wow... And that was just a basic spell."

"Is anybody hurt?" asked Japan.

"I'm a little rusty," said Canada. "I forgot about the recoil... But I'll manage."

"We should continue," said England. "I'm positive there's bound to be more of them, and my earlier attack definitely gave away our location..."

Japan nodded. "Let's just hope America was fortunate enough to not encounter these creatures."

* * *

Young America looked up at the sky and grinned. "Looks like they're here!" He then stared at his older self. "Let's hurry! I'm getting hungry already! And Mama's making the best rabbit stew ever!"

America gulped. "Um... What kind of game did you have in mind...Me?"

"Oh, it's really easy!" he said as he raised his musket. "Just answer a few questions for me. Get at least one right, and I'll tell you how to get out of here when the game's over! Get enough wrong and..." He fired.

"Augh!" America tightly grasped the newly formed hole in his jacket.

"I kill you!" he shouted with childish laughter. "By the way, that's your freebie. Use it wisely~!"

"What the hell, dude?! You're just gonna kill your older self?"

Young America ignored him and aimed his gun. "Let's see... I'll start with something easy... What's your name?"

"That's it? America, duh."

"Wrong! Don't worry though! I not going to shoot! Sorry you lost your freebie already."

"Wait a minute! You weren't specific enough! Did you want me to say 'United States of America' or something?"

He smirked. "Dunno."

"You're making no sense! How is this fair?!"

"Next question: Are you a child?"

"Huh? What kind of question is that? Look at me! I'm a grown man!"

"_Reeeaaaly_ now?" He fired again.

"Arrrgh!" America fell on one knee. "Hey! I got that right! You shouldn't be shooting me!"

"If you were a _real_ man, you wouldn't be complaining!"

"B-But I—!"

"Next question: Are you jealous of children?"

"Why would I be jealous of kids? They love to have tons of fun just like me!"

"Oh? Aren't we contradicting ourselves? If you have the traits of a child, then you _must_ be a child!"

"No! I didn't mean it like that! I—"

He fired again.

"****! What's your problem, man?!"

Young America lowered his musket and stared at him innocently. "I'm only asking for the right answer..."

"I _am_ giving you the right answer!"

"So you say..." He reloaded. "Last question: Do you resent being what you are?"

"Are you asking me if I hate myself?" He growled. "What does it matter? You're just going to shoot me no matter what I'm going say, aren't you?"

Young American began clapping. "Wow! A right answer! Didn't expect that! But unfortunately it was for the wrong question..."

America braced himself for the next shot.

_BANG!_

...

...

...

...

...

"Ah! My musket!"

"Leave my brother alone!"

America opened his eyes to see Canada and the others rushing to his aid. England was the first to reach him, helping him stand while Japan and Canada guarded them.

"Bloody hell... You're a mess."

"Hehe... Thanks, Arthur..."

"Who are you?!" Japan exclaimed with his sword drawn. "And what are your intentions?"

Young America laughed. "Hahaha! Isn't it obvious? I'm America!"

"I find that very hard to believe," said England.

"Oh, it's very true. I'm America, the boy who simply refuses to grow! The annoying brat who sticks his nose into everybody's business! The boy who never had a true childhood!"

"Hey!" shouted America. "What are you—?"

"Don't deny it! I _hated _having to grow up as fast as I did! And it's all because of what I am! I can't control it!" He took a deep breath. "If only I was born a normal human... I would actually get to have a normal birthday for once. A growth spurt that doesn't affect my age. Going to school, the friends I'd make, the arguments I would have with my parents, the day I finally get to set off on my own." He was stomping on the ground. "All of that...taken away from me because of England's...STUPID...RULES!"

"America..." muttered England.

"...I'm right, aren't I?" He looked up and gazed directly into America's eyes. "I AM YOU!"

America slowly shook his head. "No... You can't possibly be me..."

He grinned. "Sorry. My little kid ears didn't catch that."

"You heard me! You're NOT ME!"

"Hahaha...AHAHAHAHAHA! That's right! I'm me now! Not you any longer! Oho! This is gonna be FUN!"

A bright light radiated from Young America as a dark energy began to swirl around him. The nations shielded their eyes, only able to keep them open long enough to see his body being engulfed. As the light subsided, the nations soon found themselves being towered by a larger body.

Hovering in the younger nation's place was one of America's greatest dreams turned into a nightmare: a dark, imposing robot reminiscent of those from Japan's mecha anime series. The thrusters at the bottom of his feet were creating a powerful gust around him. He was armed with a broadsword and rifle forming an "X" that was attached to his back. His glowing red eyes stared down his opponents.

"I AM A SHADOW... THE TRUE SELF..."

His voice was a warped combination of both Young America and his present self, all filtered to sound more robotic.

"No way..." said America.

"Can we even beat that thing?" asked Canada. "This wind is making my rifle useless!"

"I don't believe my strengthened blade will be able to cut through his alloy," said Japan.

England was clenching his teeth. "Urgh...! Japan! Canada! Take America and get out of here!"

"Eh?! We can't leave you with that thing!"

"Believe me," he said while placing America's arm on Canada's shoulder. "I've been through worse."

"Do you really think I'll let you go that easily?" asked the Shadow. He drew his rifle and fired a few rounds in a circular motion, igniting the trees and trapping everyone in a ring of fire. "The only way you're leaving is if you can crush _me_ before I crush _you_!"

"...Fair enough." England slowly approached the Shadow with his tome open. "Let's see how tough you really are!"

After a quick incantation, England called down a barrage of lightning bolts. The Shadow only had to look up. There was a quick flash in his right eye, and soon he was expertly dodging everything aimed at him. England soon followed with a widespread group of fireballs and icicles. The Shadow didn't bother dodging this time. The projectiles had no effect on his armor.

"Sorry, dude!" he said firing a few plasma blasts. "You ain't getting me unless you're fast enough!"

England sidestepped just enough to avoid being hit. "You're just a machine! Once you're functions are disabled, you'll just be a lifeless shell!"

"Oh, I won't deny that. But we both know you're not the most athletic one between the two of us!"

He grinned and pointed at himself. "Calculating only two of us? Isn't that a little faulty for a robot?"

"What are you-AUGH!"

Japan had been slowing making his way up the Shadow's body undetected. Hiding atop the head, he had waited until it was distracted and then immediately thrust his sword into its eye.

"England! Now!"

The Briton quickly turned a few pages. "O gentle clouds, bring down your furious anger and strike down this corrupt soul...! This is it!"

Japan slid down just in time to avoid being caught in England's spell. The Shadow was struck directly in the head, electrifying his entire body as he cried out. The fighting nations took this opportunity to regroup.

Further away, Canada had set America down by a large rock. He did his best to stop his brother's bleeding, but the lack of proper medical supplies stopped him from being much help.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like crap."

"Are the bullets still lodged in there?"

"No. For some reason they disappeared."

Canada tore off parts of his jacket and wrapped it around America's injuries. "Is what that shadow-thing said...really true?"

"Are you kidding? How could that _thing_ be me?"

"You're not answering my question."

"_Again_ with the questions!" he said shutting his eyes. "Just stop asking them!"

"Al..."

America's hands were pressed against his face, yet it didn't hide his grin. "Heh. I'm pretty pathetic, aren't I? I'm supposed to be the hero, and yet here I am being the damsel in distress."

"You can still fix this."

"Yeah? How?"

"Tell the truth," he said pulling America's arms away. "We're brothers, Al. And I should know what goes through, or maybe what _doesn't_ go through, that thick head of yours."

"But I'm telling you! That's not—!"

"America," he said sternly.

He sighed. "But...what about England?"

Canada angrily pointed towards the battlefield. "He's already known and he's _still_ out there risking his butt off for you! Now hurry up before he's gets himself killed!"

Back in the battle, England and Japan were already exhausted. Their previous attack actually had the opposite effect of their intended idea on the Shadow. He merely laughed at their efforts and gloated about his superiority.

"Did you really believe lightning would short-circuit me? You're a bunch of idiots! You just gave me extra power to blow you to smithereens!"

"Damn it!" England said under his breath. He searched for another spell that could be effective but all of them sacrificed speed for power.

"I'm getting bored." Shadow America then reached for his broadsword. "I think I'll just cut you up and make your deaths quick."

"We won't let that happen!" exclaimed Japan.

"Hey, if you want to prolong your death by a few seconds, it's fine by me."

"I'd sooner become friends with France than lose to you!"

"UGH! Enough with the clichéd lines! I can't stand to hear them any longer!"

The Shadow jumped forward, but soon stopped himself in mid-air.

"Hey!" a voice had shouted. "You really only want me, right?"

America stood before his Shadow but avoided looking at him, instead staring at the ground.

Shadow America lowered his weapon. "Oh? Going to tell me off some more?"

"You're right..."

"Come again?"

"You're right... I'm just a big man-child with an obsession for heroes bringing justice and freedom throughout the entire world. I hated growing up, but only because of how fast it came to me. It's true part of me blames England, but I still know he was only looking out for me. That's what really matters."

America approached the damaged musket lying in the grass. After picking it up, he examined it more closely. He noticed that Canada's earlier shot had left a familiar scratch on a certain location. America laughed as he took a nostalgic position.

"Wh-What are you doing?!"

"Isn't this what you wanted? The right answer to your most important question?"

"We...We aren't playing that game anymore!"

"But you're thinking of it, aren't you...? Who I am?"

"Sh-Shut up!"

America finally looked up with determination. "I'm Alfred F. Jones and don't you forget it!"

_BANG!_

_..._

_..._

_..._

_..._

_..._

Shadow America fell to his knees. The bullet had pierced through his heart. His armor slowly began disintegrating until he was back in his Young America form again. He was kneeling down motionless with a blank expression on his face, unresponsive to any stimulus until America stood in front of him.

"Hey... I'm sorry about what I said. I was just too embarrassed to admit the truth." America knelt down as well. "I shouldn't have put you through this, especially the me inside. I really am one of the kids." He gently embraced his Shadow. "I'm you, and you are me..."

"Next time," he said warmly, "let's have _real_ fun together~!"

England witnessed the Shadow give him a warm smile before disappearing in a bright light. Now floating in its place was a ghostly projection of another robot. It had a less threatening design than the earlier one and was now re-colored to match America's red, white, and blue. The evil red eyes were now replaced with a peaceful blue. Its broadsword was gone, but now it had a holster with a pistol.

America was mesmerized by the sight. "Per...so...na... Ugh..."

Canada quickly caught his brother as the projection disappeared. "America!"

"Hehe... I'm fine," he said smiling. "Just a little sore."

"We need to get you back home!"

"I'll take his other arm," said England. "Japan. I trust you remember the way back?"

The Asian nation nodded. "Certainly, but stay close. These strange creatures may not all go peacefully like that."

* * *

"Ve~ I'm so glad to see you're all right!"

America had been resting in his room back at the mansion. He was staring at the strange card that had mysteriously appeared in his pocket until Italy suddenly burst through the door, also accompanied by Germany and France.

"Is it true? Did you, England, and Japan really fight some scary monsters in a weird TV world?"

"Yeah. I think I might be developing a phobia of TVs now. Haha! Ironic, huh?"

"Are you feeling okay?" asked Germany. "It's clear you've been shot...multiple times."

"I'll recover. It isn't as bad as it looks."

"Would you like me to kiss the booboos and make them better~?" asked France.

"Uh...no."

"By the way," said Germany, "where's England?"

"Probably downstairs with Japan and Canada speaking to those detective guys."

"Don't keep us waiting!" exclaimed Italy. He was unaware that he was rocking the bed until Germany stopped him. "Tell me everything that happened!"

"Well...uh...I was injured or unconscious for most of it, but..."

"Ve~"

America sighed. He couldn't ignore that face Italy was making. "Dude! It was amazing! You should've seen the amazing weapons our friends had! Japan with his cool bushido or whatever! England going Dumbledore on their asses! Canada headshotting anything he saw! And don't forget the Super Awesome Mega Robot we had to fight!" He pulled out the strange card and held it in front of Italy. "I even got this thing when I kicked its ass! Don't know what it does, but you have to admit it's pretty cool!"

"Ooo~! Can I see?"

America nodded and handed it over.

"It looks like a weird tarot card! Maybe you should ask Belarus about it!"

"Ehehe... Maybe someone else should. I had just as much of a hard time getting rid of her as Russia."

"I see America's back to his energetic self," said Japan as he came inside.

"Hey, Japan. So what did those dudes say?"

"Actually..."

The detective and his partner suddenly appeared behind the Asian nation and approached America.

"Mr. Jones. We're all happy that you've return safely, but we still have to ask you a few questions."

America laid back down. "Alright, shoot."

"You friend here and your brothers claim that you have little to no memory of what happened in regards to your disappearance. Is that true?"

"Yeah. I was just watching TV in my room that night. The last thing I remember was the opening of _Bleach_ before I blacked out."

"Mmhm... And those...wounds. Do you remember where you got them?"

"Um...not really. I just woke and found myself bleeding. I was wandering lost in the forest looking for help until my friends found me."

"Well, we obviously can't investigate the entire forest and the storms we've been having probably washed away a lot of evidence so we aren't any closer to finding out who kidnapped you."

"It's cool. I don't think he'll come back with more people around me now."

"You never know. There are some _crazy_ criminals out there."

"Yeah. I should know..."

"Get well soon."

The detective and his partner waved goodbye and exited the room with England and Canada soon replacing them.

"Was it wise to lie to your own government like that?" asked Germany.

"What was I supposed to say?" America replied. "I was stuck in a weird TV world with evil monsters and morally ambiguous shadow versions of me? I'd either be labeled as a psychopath or taken by my secret service."

"He has a point," said France.

"I think we should transfer you to a room with no televisions," said England, "or at least one where you wouldn't be able to fit into the screen."

"Is that how it works? Just go into the TV?"

"I know it sound ridiculous," said Japan, "but it's true. A household appliance suddenly becoming an otherworldly portal..."

"I think we should take some precautions," said Germany. "It's clear we're the only ones who know about this world. The criminal could very well target one of us next in order to keep out mouths shut."

"Wait," said Canada. "Are we going to tell the others?"

"That would just cause panic and soon spread worldwide to the common people. For now, we should just refrain from speaking about this until we look further into it."

"I'll stay with America then until he gets better."

"Aw~" America said happily. "You don't have to do that, bro."

"I'm the closest by location so I don't have to take long trips compared to you guys."

"I'll begin more research into this Midnight Channel," said Japan. "This all seems strangely familiar to me somehow..."

"That sounds good," said Germany. "Italy and I will look into our past records for any similar cases."

"I think I shall do that as well," said France. "What about you, England?"

"I'll do my own private research," the Briton replied. "Perhaps I could ask my friends about any similar legends."

"Ve~ Let me at least cook you something before I go, America! My treat!"

America gave a nervous laugh. "Thanks, Italy, but I already—"

He was interrupted by the doorbell.

"PIZZA DELIVERY!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 - Relevance**

A few days passed and America was soon back to full health. That didn't stop his brother from staying longer than he needed though.

"Canada. Dude. I appreciate the love, but you're _smothering_ me now!"

"I'm only worried the culprit might come back for you."

"When you put it like that, I can't refuse, but we really need to set up some boundaries here..."

"Like what?"

"You could start by not standing less than an inch from me..."

Canada blushed and sheepishly backed away.

America sighed. He understood his brother's concern, but sometimes it was overbearing. Canada had already woken up early before him every day, an incredible feat by itself, and prepared breakfast. It was sweet at first, but then it just turned repetitive, especially with Canada's habit of pouring extra maple syrup on his pancakes and adding it to his coffee. By this point, America would rather skip right to lunch.

"Alright, look. If want to stay...help me with some of these rooms."

"Okay..."

Canada followed his brother to the west wing, stopping at a few doors down from their own rooms. This one had Spain's flag. After proceeding inside, Canada saw that the interior was incomplete. Only the walls had been finished, constructed with Spanish architecture. There was some furniture pieces laid out such as chairs, a couch, and a queen-sized bed, but none of them were actually arranged yet. America seemed to be waiting for the tiles work to be completed before he moved onto that.

"I really can't decide what Spain would like. I mean, that dude loves _everything_ so I have no idea what he'd like the most."

"Why don't you ask him?"

"Nooo!" he whined. "It's supposed to be a surprise for him!"

"Then why not Romano?"

"That guy would just pelt me with tomatoes and insult me in ways I didn't think were even possible if I asked."

"France? Prussia?"

"Oh yeah. I forgot they were buds. Come to think of it... What the hell am I supposed to do with Prussia's room? Teutonic Knights armory? Eastern German stuff? Maybe a hybrid of both? No, that'd just look weird."

"_Yet you think this mansion is _awesome_?" _Canada then pulled his brother outside. "I think you should focus on the easier things for now."

"Right, right. I'll go ask France later." He then started down the hallway. "Next are the Nordics."

The hallway soon turned north. As they headed further down, it seemed like the world around them progressively lost its color. By the time they stopped, there were only empty doorways leading into plain white rooms.

"What's the problem here? You've hardly started."

"I can't decide who gets the Viking room."

"Eh?!"

"Maybe Denmark? He still likes talking about his Viking days, right? Or Sweden? Don't really know what makes him tick though... And Norway's definitely out. Don't want to get on his bad side after what happened last time."

"But why Vikings?!"

He grinned. "Because they're cool and badass!"

"But their time was so long ago! And I thought you were going by everyone's individual culture."

"Well, what else am I supposed to do? When I hear 'Scandinavia', all I think of is Vikings...and snow. Oh! I should totally put snow machines in their rooms!" He spread out arms. "Or better: blanket this entire hallway with snow so the Nordics can have snowball fights before bed!"

"America!"

He pouted, giving into his brother's fury. "Fine, I'll do more research..."

"If you're going to use _Wikipedia_, please don't stop reading after the first sentence. Plus you have the Library of Congress. Use it for once."

"But can I still—?"

"No Vikings!"

* * *

After touring the rest of the mansion and exchanging various suggestions, America and Canada headed downstairs for lunch. However the latter was losing his appetite after seeing how miniscule his serving was compared to his brother's occupying almost half the table.

"You sure you don't want more?" America said while munching on a sandwich.

"I'm fine. Hehehe..." There wasn't much opportunity for conversation during the meal so Canada quietly ate while ignoring his brother's table manners.

"Pardon me, Mr. Jones," said an entering maid, "but you have a guest."

"Alright, send him in."

The maid stepped aside and bowed to the visiting Japan.

"Oh hey, Kiku. You hungry?"

"No, thank you." Japan pulled up a chair and sat down. "I actually came here to show you something." He handed America a folder containing multiple papers. "These are a few police reports I found."

America translated the text as he read. "Bizarre murders cases?"

The files described a string of disappearances that started about two and a half years ago in Japan. The first two ended up with the victims found dead and hanging upside down from high places. The next three were found safe but claimed obliviousness to what happened. Then the third and final death occurred. At the first the case seemed solved when a third year student turned himself in, but he was eventually deemed innocent and possibly insane along with another suspect once a new culprit was found.

"Creepy... Though what does this have to do with me?"

"Look at the locations. They all occurred in one of my towns."

"Inaba? Don't think I've ever been there before. Or heard of it for that matter."

"Apparently, that's where the rumors for the Midnight Channel started."

"A small town like that? I would've thought it came from a bigger city like Tokyo."

"I went to Inaba myself to investigate the rumor personally, but I couldn't find any helpful information."

"What did the people say?"

"Actually, they had almost forgotten about it until I asked. They spoke about how it was a very popular rumor but then quickly died away as soon as it came."

"They all said that?"

"Well I did meet this young woman, but she gave me a strange look when I mentioned the Midnight Channel, asking why I wanted to know about it. I said I was curious. She simply told me not to worry about it and how everything associated with that rumor was no longer there."

"Seems suspicious. You should've questioned her more."

"I tried, but she was already walking away. And I didn't want to be rude."

"Did you at least get her name?"

He shook his head. "I forgot to ask. And it would be useless to search for her now. She didn't seem like a resident."

"Back to square one, huh?" he said scratching his head.

Though he never admitted it yet, the incident had left America paranoid. He occasionally had nightmares of reliving that experience, except this time without his friends to save him. He wondered what would've happened had Canada not been there. Would he have died? And what would happen if he did? Nations only died though "natural causes". It could be events such as war, governments dissolving, or people abandoning their national identity. But being killed by some demonic version of yourself? What would've happened? A new personification would replace him? The American people spontaneously dropping dead? The United States being wiped off the face of the map? All because of a strange TV world...

"I believe we should watch it," said Japan.

"Huh?"

"Isn't your forecast supposed to be heavy rain tonight?"

"Yeah, but why? Nobody's been kidnapped yet."

"Exactly. We should at least know what happens if that's the situation."

America pondered the thought before setting his food down. "Alright," he said pointing two fingers. "But you have to stay close! I don't want to go back in there alone!

Canada and Japan looked at each other, sharing a laugh seeing the American scared out of his wits.

* * *

The clock struck twelve as the nations sat patiently on America's bed. Just like before, the television came to life on its own. Canada and Japan both felt America's grip on their shirts tighten, though he was still staring intently at the screen.

The image slowly cleared to reveal a modern day setting. It was the throne room of Buckingham Palace, although it was heavily altered. It was furnished with various items from all over the world. However there was no order to them. They were carelessly laid out and cluttering the floor. Only a red carpet leading to the throne was left untouched and neatly aligned. The camera was slowly zooming in on the person seated upon the golden chair.

"Isn't my collection simply grand?"

A grinning England began walking down the short steps, extending his arms out to everything in the room. He was rather inappropriately dressed in a monarch's attire dating to the eighteenth century and wielding a silver scepter.

He picked up a golden statue of a Hindu deity off its pedestal. "I bought this beautiful antique from my profitable markets in India." He then pointed to a stack of crates with their lids missing. "And those special herbal teas were given to me by my lovely people in Hong Kong. Oh, and my most treasured piece of all...!"

England approached a pedestal housing a glass case. Inside was a ribbon-tied parchment being held on a short stand. The Briton soon retrieved and unrolled it in front of the camera.

"I went through a lot of trouble to acquire this."

America felt his stomach churn when he saw it: the Declaration of Independence. He knew this was fake, but he still felt the urge to call Washington D.C. and make sure the real document was safe in the National Archives.

"It started when my sweet little brother, America, threw a temper tantrum. Quite a silly boy if you ask me. And pardon my language, but he honestly believed 'kicking my arse' and drafting this manuscript with some of his associates automatically confirmed that he was 'independent' as he put it." He placed the Declaration back inside. "It lasted a few years, but I managed to remind him who was _rightly_ in charge. And now he's properly behaved now, as I've always envisioned him~"

England returned to his throne, sitting down one leg over the other. The camera then zoomed in on his face.

"I am afraid this is all the time we have. I must return to my duties at once. Apparently, a guard reported seeing an intruder somewhere on the premises." He sighed with a hand covering half his face. "I _must_ find more competent soldiers. With an empire this expansive, we cannot afford to show any weakness..."

Static.

...

...

...

...

...

"When was the last time any of you spoke to England?"

Japan turned his head only to see Canada knocked over, face-planted on the floor and America hurriedly dialing numbers on his landline.

"C'mon... Pick up, pick up, pick up, pick up, pick up!"

* * *

"S-Sir! Please be rational! Mr. Kirkland does not wish to be disturbed right now!"

"I'm his brother! I get special intrusion rights!"

America fiercely kicked the entrance to England's room. His strength immediately tore the hinges apart and sent the door flying. It zipped over England's desk, crashed through the nearby window, and plummeted two stories into the garden below. Canada could hear the horrified scream of the unsuspecting gardener below.

"Arthur! Where are you?!"

Empty. The only signs of someone being here were the displaced chair for England's desk and the open laptop with some documents displayed.

"That's odd," said the maid who had tried holding back America. "He was sitting at his desk the last time I came here. And I don't recall Mr. Kirkland ever leaving..."

"Could you please give us some time alone?" asked Japan. "It's a family matter."

"Of... Of course." She bowed and attempted to shut the door. After realizing it was no longer there, she quickly apologized and asked the gathering crowd of servants to disperse.

The nations waited until the sounds of footsteps were gone before speaking again.

"There's a TV in here," said America.

"Should we go in after him?" asked Canada.

"We've already caused a big scene here," said Japan. "It would be made worse if they discovered that we disappeared as well. Or four men suddenly coming out of a television..."

"But we can't just leave Arthur for dead!" exclaimed America.

"I know... That's why I'll stay behind."

"Japan?"

"You two are his relatives. You both have a stronger resolve to rescue him. Now hurry while I stall for time."

America couldn't argue with that, but he also knew Japan cared greatly about England. It didn't feel right to leave him behind, yet there was no stopping him once he was determined.

"Thanks a lot, Japan. We owe you one."

America dove into the television, safely landing on his feet after somersaulting in midair. He glanced at his belt having felt something rebound on his waist. Pulling aside his open jacket, America drew his newly acquired handgun from its holster.

_Must be one of those weird weapons they told me about._

America released the magazine only to find it empty. He twisted around trying to find additional ammo to no avail. Popping the magazine back in, he lifted his arm at empty space and pulled the trigger. A bullet emerged perfectly. Testing it again, America fired multiple times in rapid succession, far more than his biggest magazines could hold.

_Infinite bullets. N__o reloading. I think I'm going to like this!_

After putting the handgun away, America looked ahead. He wasted no time dashing for the entrance to the faux Buckingham Palace once he spotted it.

"Hey, America!" Canada exclaimed only halfway through the television screen. "Wait for me!" By the time he caught up, America had already opened the front doors but hadn't proceeded inside yet. And now he knew why. "What the heck?"

The brothers had visited Buckingham Palace before, but they could barely recognize the interior of this place. There was just a single, unusually twisted hallway leading inside.

"Aw, man. How are we supposed to find England now?"

"The old-fashioned way."

They hurried inside, stopping at the first door they came across in this monotonous maze. America opened it while Canada readied himself to fire at any hostiles.

Inside was an empty ballroom illuminated by a glass chandelier. Seats lined against the wall, observing the red carpet covering the checkered floor. Standing in the center were a few suits of armor arranged in a triangular formation. They had masks similar to the monsters from the nations' previous visit.

From an unknown location, classical music soon began to play, amplified by the room's acoustics. It soon prompted the suits to come alive. They drew their steel swords and slowly began advancing on the nations.

"Looks like we'll have to fight," said Canada.

"Urgh...! What the—?!"

America felt a sharp pain in his head, as if something was thrashing around inside of it. As this feeling intensified, he could hear a deep, powerful voice speaking to him, urging him to listen.

"_I am thou. Thou art I. The time has come. Open thine eyes...and call forth what is within!"_

His hand was slowly reaching for his pocket. America was unsure if he was actually willing it or if his body was moving on its own. When it finally stopped moving, he was gazing at the mysterious card again. Another strange feeling came over him as a certain word came to mind.

"Persona..."

The card immediately ignited, consumed in a blue flame yet it strangely didn't burn America's skin. He soon felt himself compelled to let it hover in midair as he drew his handgun. The moment he fired was the moment he was consumed by the fire as well. He then cried out, not in pain but from the energy being drawn from his body. Once it subsided, America turned around to find a familiar robot hovering before him.

The robot didn't speak, but he looked down at America and gave a knowing nod.

"Woah... This is _so_ cool!"

America hurriedly aimed his handgun at his opponents, observing how his "Persona" mimicked his movements. The knights were hesitant to move once they saw this and took defensive stances.

"Judging by your reactions," he said smirking, "you fellas know full well what this badass mother can do!"

Both of them fired. The nation's bullets had no effect on the knights' armor, but the robot's plasma blasts incinerated them, leaving nothing but smoking ashes.

With the battle over, America broke into a hysterical frenzy.

"Sweeeeet! I have my own super robot now! My plan to stop global warming can be a reality!"

America lost himself in climbing all over his Persona, examining every shiny detail. He tried removing its weapons to test them out himself, but the robot stubbornly refused to comply to his master's ridiculous appeals. Despite its apparent agitation, it made no attempt in trying to grab America and set him down.

"Ehehe... I'm really happy for you, America..."

"_Are you really? Surely you're thinking something else right now. C'mon, you're jealous! Admit it!_"

Shadow Canada had suddenly appeared at the opposite side of the room. Unlike America's counterpart, he was a mirror image of Canada but with a darker color scheme. His golden eyes held a feeling of ferocity, intimidating his other self.

"What are you saying?" America asked jumping to the ground.

"C'mon, Al. You of all people should know. Then again...I shouldn't really expect that from an ignorant buffoon like you."

"...Are you calling me stupid?"

"See? That's what I'm talking about! You never read into things unless you have to or if someone else tells you to do it. There's a clear difference between stupidity and ignorance, y'know. Yet I'm always torn on which category you fall into." He pointed to his counterpart but still stared at America. "Like right now! You don't even know why I'm here, do you?"

"To save England, duh!"

He smirked. "Hehehe... Is that all? You sure there isn't another, even bigger, side to it?"

"What other reason does he have?"

"Think about it...if that's even possible. When have I ever received this much attention from you and the others? Before this, everyone always ignored me like I didn't even exist! And when someone _did_ notice me for a change, they thought I was you!" His clenched fists were shaking. "Do you know how _humiliated_ that makes me feel?! I might as well not exist if I'm considered a plain copy of you!"

That hit something. "Canada... I never meant to-"

"You probably think I'm suicidal, don't you? Well I'm not! My pride won't let me sink _that_ low!" He began walking back and forth, continuing to muse. "I always attend those meetings hoping someone will acknowledge me or at least call me by the right name! Hahaha! But then all of this happened! You got kidnapped, we rescued you, and I was actually major player of something big for once! I knew there was more to it! And I didn't want it to stop! I wanted to be there every second, hoping I get another chance at the action! Maybe play the therapist role after I helped you face your Shadow!"

Canada dropped his weapon. "Stop it!"

"Why? I'm just venting my thoughts and frustrations passive aggressively. That's how I always do it. I _am_ you after all."

"No," he said falling to his knees. "What kind of brother would I be if I thought so selfishly?"

"A pretty awful one. But I'd never have the guts to tell America that."

"No! That's not me...! You're _nothing_ like me!"

"Hehe... Ahahahahahahaha! This power...! I hope you're ready, eh!"

Shadow Canada transformed, taking the form of a military trooper armed with a sniper rifle. A white mask with no features acted as a face. His body was transparent with questionable stability. It was rapidly flickering in-and-out of reality at seemingly random intervals.

"I am a shadow... The true self... Can you really defeat one that's here yet never here?"

America charged forward. "Of course! All I have to do hit you until you die, right?"

The nation fired more rounds, but the bullets phased right through the Shadow's body. His Persona followed with a few thruster-propelled kicks and punches only to achieve the same effect.

"C'mon, Al," said the Shadow without moving. "Please don't make me fight my own brother..."

"Why shouldn't I?" he asked firing more bullets. "If you're acting crazy, it's my job to beat some sense into you!"

"Hmph. What else can you do?" He then drew his rifle, but instead of properly holding it, he gripped the barrel and held it like a club. "I already said how I really feel! Are you going to tell me it's all bull?"

The Shadow swung at the Persona's head. Despite its transparency, the stock made contact. The Persona was struck forcefully enough to knock it over. The damage it received was also proportionally applied to America's own body. The nation was crying out as he slumped to the floor.

"I'm a ghost! Hardly anyone knows I exist! That rare moment someone _does_ acknowledge me is what makes me feel human for once. It's when I feel true happiness!"

America coughed picking himself up. "I have to admit. I'd be a hypocrite if I said Canada wasn't a ghost. Even I tend to forget about him sometimes."

"Yeah, yeah! That's right! Glad to know that my brother agrees with me!"

"But that just shows I'm no better than him."

Canada, who had been sulking since his Shadow's transformation, finally looked up. "America?"

"What kind of person forgets his own family? I try to make it up to him by visiting his house once in a while, but I know it's never enough. I want to help Canada, but it's just his nature. I can't change something like that right away. And with all the future work my boss has planned, I can barely spare any time for it. Now that I think about it...I must be a monster if I put work before family."

"America, I..."

"I never say it—No... I always forget to say it, but I admire his strength. He's always got my back whenever I get in trouble. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be standing here right now. Whether I remember it or not, he's invaluable to me and someone I can't ever live without."

Shadow Canada's body was solidifying. His flickering lapses became much less common now. America seized this opportunity to deliver another blow. He commanded his Persona to draw its rifle and charge to fire at maximum output.

"So if you honestly believe you're a nobody, then I have no reason to be here!"

While the gun was charging, America dashed forward and used his boxing skills to lock his opponent into place. Shadow Canada guarded with his rifle, but enduring all of America's punches was dwindling his speed. The nation soon knocked his weapon away and then tackled him in the stomach.

As the Shadow toppled over, America quickly slid under his legs and kicked him back into the air. By this point, America's Persona was ready. It immediately fired once its master was a safe distance away.

"GAAAHHH!"

Shadow Canada plummeted to the ground, returning to his original form. He laid there in cracks of the floor with a dazed expression, only turning his head when his other self approached him.

"What you said... All of it... You were right..." Canada was wiping tears from his eyes. "I do have a lot of pent up issues that I was too shy to admit. I was so shy and embarrassed that I couldn't even admit it to myself." He smiled, taking the Shadow's hands. "You're me and I'm you."

Shadow Canada nodded knowingly. He disappeared in a bright light and was soon replaced with a projection of a Mountie. This one was completely solid, or at least that's what Canada assumed. And his mask finally had a face, although it still lacked a mouth.

Canada wanted to laugh, but he soon found himself collapsing.

"Canada!" America said catching him. "You okay?"

"Heh... I guess I know a lot more about you now. And in more ways than one, eh."

"Forget about that for now," he said letting him piggyback. "I'm taking you outside."

"But what about England?"

"I don't want to leave him, but you're worn out. And I don't think I'll be able to protect both of you with those other monsters around."

He was about to protest, but America was already moving. Once there were outside the palace, he slowly rested his head.

"America?"

"Yeah?"

"Did I ever tell you that I was jealous of you?"

He smiled. "I think my 'ignorant brain' already figured that out."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 - Legacy**

America and Canada, now fully rested, stood before the TV world's Buckingham Palace once again, this time Japan also accompanying them. After contacting England's brothers and explaining the situation to them (plus bringing up a few favors), they agreed to uphold a facade that England was on a business trip to their houses while America and the others continued their search uninhibited.

"This place is much darker than the real one," said Japan.

America fixed his glasses. "Looks like security was turned up a bit."

There were a few knights wandering outside the East Front, guarding a magical barrier placed on the front entrance.

"I can handle this," said Canada.

The nation summoned his newly acquired Persona and took aim. He fired on the closest knight while its back was turned. It was a direct hit as the helmet shattered to pieces, the rest of its body falling apart. At this point, the other knights directed the attention to the newcomers.

"Alright," said America punching his hand, "now it's my turn!"

"Please wait!" Japan said blocking him. He charged then forward and swiftly took down his opponents, dodging their swings and delivering a quick slash to their masks. "I think it would be wise to save your strength," he said sheathing his katana. "You're currently the most powerful out of the three of us. It would be best considering we don't know how many more of these creatures are waiting for us."

"I was only gonna punch 'em a bit," America said disappointed, "not go overboard, guns ablazing. Oh no, _that_ will be for when we find that stuck-up Shadow!"

* * *

"_Bloody hell! There's just no end to these things!_"

England summoned a powerful force of wind to push his pursuers away while he dove unnoticed into the next room. Sitting against the wall, he was heavily panting and holding his tome closely to his chest. His clothes were torn, there were a few cuts on his skin, and now he was completely lost.

"_Blast it! They never found me this fast before!_"

Curiosity had put the nation's life at grave risk. Wanting to investigate the TV world's functions, England had entered by himself to see what would occur. He was bewildered to find a foggy Buckingham Palace before him. At first he thought he had been teleported to London, but soon he noticed the absence of civilians. Searching the perimeter revealed that this was simply a space enclosed by seemingly endless grassy fields.

England had many questions, and he believed the answers were inside the palace. As he explored, he was met with little resistance. His spells were able to kill most of the monsters. At one point, he realized that some of them were actually behaving passively around him. But that soon changed once he reached the higher floors. Monsters began to swarm en masse, forcing England to utilize hit-and-run tactics.

Surviving was taxing for the nation. He had managed to take shelter in certain rooms where he could rest and possibly sleep. But his time was limited as his protective wards went off every few hours, forcing him to run once again.

"_Tired... So tired... How long have I been running...? Two days? Perhaps three? My sense of time is quite unreliable now... I wonder if anyone has realized that I've gone missing? America's probably enjoying himself in another ridiculous idea of his. Canada's probably with him too. France wouldn't even notice if I suddenly disappeared off the map... I'm all alone, aren't I?_"

England's last ward was soon set off, triggering a vibration in his head. This didn't surprise England anymore, not even making him turn his head. Monsters were trying to break down the door where he had just placed a lock spell. The exhausted nation struggled to his feet and opened his tome.

"_Perhaps...just a little longer..._"

The horde tore through as England channeled all of his remaining energy into one final spell, the explosive kind.

* * *

"Um, didn't we just come from the fifth floor?"

America and his group had been traversing the palace's nonsensical and tedious labyrinth for the past hour. They started by searching every room on the first floor before heading up a staircase they had found. By the third floor and with time running out, they agreed to just rush to the highest point possible. However their fifth staircase apparently took them outside to the palace's quadrangle.

"This place is so confusing," Canada said clutching his head. "That last hallway was long enough for _three_ Buckinghams!"

"The Midnight Channel itself doesn't make any sense," said Japan. "We just have to accept the impossible if we want to proceed."

"I swear," said America. "I'm gonna find whoever created this place and force him to build easy-access shortcuts!"

"So...do we go back inside?" asked Canada.

"If this is anything like Japan's videogames, I think we just have to keep going straight."

"And defeat a boss," Japan added.

"Aw c'mon, dude. I hate it when you put a boss in the middle of a dungeon without warning. Then when I beat it, I have to go back, heal, and start all over again. And that's assuming the dungeon layout isn't randomized..."

"I'll apologize later," he said gripping his sword, "but I was partially referring to that thing over there."

He pointed across the courtyard to a door being guarded by a large monster. It took the form of a colonial queen wielding a rapier. Lined up before her was a group of knights mounted on masked horses. With a quick swing of their ruler's blade, they began circling the queen as she began walking towards the nations.

"I know I'm not the best at other countries' history," said America, "but is that even accurate?"

"We're fighting an eighteenth century woman," said Canada, "using a sixteenth century weapon to command thirteenth century soldiers in a nineteenth century palace. There's no such thing as accuracy anymore!"

"Whatever," he said summoning his Persona. "I just hope 'God Save the Queen' doesn't apply here."

America and his Persona fired at the queen, but she just used her rapier to deflect the former's bullets and absorb the latter's plasma blasts. America then tried a more direct approach. He rushed the queen's envoy, attempting to squeeze through the small openings between horses. As he drew closer, the knights broke formation and charged at America from all directions. The nation was forced to retreat while his Persona continued onward.

"That's right!" he said holding out a fist. "Kick her ass!"

The Persona swung at the queen who countered with her blade. They repeated these actions multiple times, the Persona occasionally added its pistol to the mix only for its opponent to quickly dodge its shots. Once the queen had absorbed enough energy, she quickly struck the Persona's chest and unleashed everything stored inside.

"Argh...c'mon!" America said clutching the afflicted area. "This isn't Hungary! You should be going down easy!"

"Let me try," said Canada.

Canada's Persona took aim and fired. Again, the queen easily deflected the bullet although this time she was wobbling after doing so.

"Aw man... That really killed my spirits..."

"Canada! Look out!" Japan dashed in front of Canada and cut down the knight charging at him. The monster then fell off his horse, both of them fading away afterward. "Be careful. Someone else like yourself is at a disadvantage in an open battlefield."

"Sorry."

"Uh, guys?" said America. "We may need a new plan."

The knights were reformed around the queen. There had been a gap due to their fallen member, but the queen instantly used magic to summon another one in its place.

"I really wish we had England's fancy spells right now! Head-on won't work! Shooting her won't work!"

"Yes it will," said Canada.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Just listen to what I say, alright?"

"If you insist," said Japan. "You are the strategist."

"Great. Japan, I want you attack those knights and draw them altogether. America, you and your Persona follow him, but do _not_ attack anything. Wait for my signal. Did you hear that?"

His brother nodded. "Little sad, but yeah."

Japan took the lead with America closely behind him. The knights charged at the nations once again. As they drew closer, Japan slightly unsheathed his sword. His opponents swung their own, but the nation quickly ducked under each attack and slashed their steeds' legs. The knights were soon tossed aside by their own mounts or collapsed with them. Meanwhile, the queen was reusing her previous summoning motion.

"America! Attack her now!"

Canada, who had been carefully aiming the entire time, fired at the queen's head. She was forced cancel her spell and counter physically. The force she used to deflect the bullet threw her off balance once again, and America was less than a meter from her.

"You're mine now!"

America and his Persona punched the queen simultaneously. She was sent flying back and crashed into the side of the building. When the smoke cleared, the queen fell to the ground defeated, her body slowly fading. The knights who had survived Japan's earlier attack soon disappeared as well.

"Hahaha! Great work, Canada!"

"Oh no," he said trying to hide his proud smile, "you two did most of the work."

"Yeah, but you came up with the idea. I was just gonna try punching her sword until it broke."

He rubbed his head. "Ehehe... I guess being laid back does make you notice some things."

"We all have our strength and weaknesses," said Japan. "It's just a matter of how well we complement one another."

"Reminds me of the good ol'days," said America. "Y'know, without the 'everyone trying to kick each other's ass' part."

"Nothing can stop us, eh!"

Japan nodded. "Hai. Now let's use our strength to save England!"

* * *

England slowly opened his eyes to find himself kneeling in the throne room. By the time he became fully aware, the Briton was picked up by a pair of knights and tossed in front of the throne.

"My, my...I'm quite the nasty little bugger. You decimated and managed to elude a large portion of my army before I finally caught you."

England stared horrified at his Shadow self. He then looked around the room to see all the treasures laid before him. It brought forth a myriad of feelings. Joy, sadness, nostalgia, and anger being only a few of them.

"Impressive, right? Take a long gander. It was once yours after all."

"Pft! What do I care?" he asked shutting his eyes. "That's all in the past now. I've moved on."

"Hehehe... I know that's not true. You took pride in 'the empire on which the sun never sets'. They were the happiest days of your life. Then World War II happened and, one by one, they all deserted you in the aftermath, your precious wards. Oh, how you _love_ to vent these frustrations towards America..."

"America has _nothing_ to do with this! He declared his independence long before the others!"

"But that's _precisely_ the reason! He actually had the _gall_ to secede long before the others. He created a legacy that continued to inspire those around him. It dealt quite a nasty blow to Spain, but at least I was relatively safe. America wouldn't even know if I was insulting him or not. He was the perfect candidate."

"I cannot possibly hold a grudge for that long."

"This isn't a grudge. It's a _pleasure_. There was bickering of course, but it was only playful in nature. Oh no, I cannot possibly stay mad at America. He does have that soft spot of mine after all. Personally he was my favorite~"

"What you're spouting is utter nonsense! I've already put these notions behind me!"

Shadow England slammed the base of his scepter. "You never confronted them at all! You simply chose to ignore them and shut yourself up on those tiny islands of yours! You're desperate for others to understand you, but you mostly end up coming off as a cynical, arrogant wanker!"

"Sh-Shut up! None of that is true!"

He stood up and walked behind his counterpart. "How can it not be? These are my thoughts and words. Though...maybe a bit more proper. If I didn't know any better, you sincerely claim to not believe that you and I are one and the same."

"Yes... That's right! You are NOT ME!"

His back was still turned towards England as he began giggling. "Hehehe...! HAHAHAHAHA! This power! I've never felt this invigorated before! Yes! With all of this, I can go on another world conquest!"

England shielded his eyes as his Shadow transformed. When he could finally open them, Shadow England had become an imposing king clad in golden armor. However his attire was heavily worn down. His suit was rusted, his cape was tattered, and a portion of his crown was cut off.

"I am a Shadow... The true self..." He finally turned around to face England. "In order to build an empire, I need to conquer a kingdom. And since the Queen of England isn't here, I'll just have to settle for you!"

Shadow England raised his scepter towards the throne. The tapestries behind it began moving on their own like snakes. They seized England's arms and legs and bound him to the seat. The Briton was struggling, but it only tightened the restraints.

"Let me go! Let me go this instant, you git!"

"Such as foul-mouthed ruler! No wonder your subordinates deserted you." He picked up a sword amidst the treasures. "I'll be sure not the make that mistake once I'm through with you!"

"No! Stop! Urgh, these bindings!"

"Farewell, King Arthur."

England knew his fatigue was begging him to stop yet the adrenaline rush was desperate. He wondered what else he could do. If he somehow managed to escape, he'd still be defenseless and at his Shadow's mercy. The only other option would be wait for a savior to arrive. But what was the point if he was only seconds away from death?

There were so many things he regretted in his life, and now he realized he'd never get to amend them...

_BOOM_

_..._

_..._

_..._

_..._

_..._

"This better be his lair! I am sick of climbing up all of those stairs!"

"_A-America?!_"

His Persona dispersed the dust cloud. "England? Aw, finally! We've been looking everywhere for you, dude!"

"I...I appreciate the concern, but I'm a little bit of a bind at the moment!"

"So your army has come to rescue you now?" asked Shadow England. "And apparently you've defeated my Queen..."

"You royals should really learn how to put up a fight!" said America.

"I agree... I lament the times where the king would actually participate in the battle instead of hiding away safely in his castle." He raised his sword at them. "Let's revive that tradition, shall we?"

"England..." said Canada, "did you really say it?"

England avoided looking at Canada's eyes and remained silent.

"England," said Japan, "you must face the truth, even if it's difficult for you."

"Don't even bother," said the Shadow. "None of you could possibly understand how he feels."

"You mean his feelings about being lonely and losing the empire?" asked America.

"...Lucky guess," he said angrily. "Who told you? Canada, right? He _was_ the brighter one..."

"I've always known. Not right away, but I figured it out. Thing is...I never got the guts to ask him about it. He just seemed so relieved to get something off his chest that I just...let it happen. If England was happy, I was happy."

"I have to take some of the blame too," said Canada. "I was either too shy or being unnoticed that I could never lend a hand."

"A very sweet sentiment," said Shadow England, "but that still won't convince me to stand down!"

"Bring it!" shouted America.

America's Persona immediately went for the direct approach. It delivered a relentless barrage that seemed to have little effect on his opponent's armor. Shadow England soon parried one of the robot's jabs and knocked it to the ground.

Canada and his Persona fired before the Shadow could retaliate against the disabled America. Just like his vanquished partner, Shadow England deflected the bullet. Despite this, the Canadian pair continued firing a steady stream while America recovered.

"Why are you so fixated on rescuing this fool? You're both independent! You no longer need him!" While he was distracted by Canada's attacks, America managed to knock the sword out of his hand.

"He's our brother! We'll always be there for him no matter what!"

"So be it!"

A ferocious wind shattered the windows and sent various objects flying. America and Canada were forced to retreat while shooting down hazards. The Shadow laughed as he tapped further into his magical abilities. He conjured numerous icicles and combined them with his wind-manipulation skills. Soon the brothers were standing back-to-back, taking turns to counter Shadow England's spells.

Meanwhile, Japan had hidden himself amongst the large and heavier treasures. He was slowly making his way towards England, carefully avoiding the Shadow's line of sight and the stray projectiles. Upon reaching the Briton, Japan quickly cut the tapestries and helped the man take cover behind a stack of crates.

"Are you okay, England?"

"Yes... I'm all right..."

"Good...but I assume you know what I want you to do next?"

He sighed. "I can't do it, Japan. It's too difficult...too humiliating."

"England, that Shadow will never back down if you don't."

"I've already told you that I can't! What would they think of me if I did? I could never face them or any other nation again!"

"Didn't you listen to them, England? They've already known for a long time, and they _still_ continue to fight for you."

"But this is different!"

Japan seized the man's shoulders, angrily shaking him. "No it is not! This is just like when we fought America's Shadow! Are you truly unable do the same as your brother when you came to his aid?"

"But... Where would I even start?"

"Start by apologizing."

England stared at Japan's face. He had always wondered how this person managed to maintain such a stoic face even in a dire situation like this.

"Okay..."

Japan's slowly pulled England to his feet and helped him down the steps. As they walked down the carpet, Japan used his katana to shatter the stray icicles. England kept his focus on his brothers, waiting until they were close enough to hear him.

"America! There's something that I...that I want to say!"

"What is it? Little busy at the mome—Woah!"

"I'm sorry, alright?!"

"Sorry?! Sorry for what?! Ah—Canada! I missed one to your left!"

"I'm...I'm sorry about how strict and overbearing I was! You had every right to be angry after how I treated you! I'm sorry about every insult I've ever thrown at you! You were the only one I could ever turn to! And I'm sorry that I treated you like my emotional punching bag for all these years! I never meant to behave the way I did but...it's just who I am! I can't help it!"

America didn't respond.

"America...? You better not make me repeat myself!"

"Dude, is that it? I've forgiven you a million times already! I just want the great England I used to know and love back."

The magical storm was starting to calm. The winds had stopped, and the ice turned into a flurry of snow.

"No!" Shadow England was staring at his hands in disbelief. Most of his magical power had suddenly disappeared. "What did you do?! My power! My empire!"

America and Canada wasted no time while the Shadow was distracted. They attacked at once, America punching the helmet and Canada swinging at the stomach. The armor was vastly weaker than before and shattered instantly. Shadow England reverted to human form before he even crashed into the wall.

The Shadow was laying back with a limp body. As Japan helped England meet him, the Briton noticed a broken crown lying a few inches away. He carefully picked it up and gently placed it on his counterpart's head.

"You're...You're everything I ever wished to be. I accept that now." He glanced at the treasures around them, all of them slowly disappearing one by one. "But times have changed. I want to move on, but I couldn't do so without letting go of the past." He smiled and nodded. "You're me alright. There's no doubt in my mind."

_"Live and let live._"

As his counterpart disappeared, England saw the following projection reveal a completely different figure: a crowned white paladin armed with both a longsword and a spellbook. It then transformed into a card that fell into England hands. He glowed for a few seconds before finally collapsing.

"Woah! England! Hey, wake up!" America was shaking the Briton until he was stopped by Japan.

"Stop it, America. It's obvious he's been through a lot. Let's just take him home for now."

"Alright," he said picking up England, "here you go, Globo Man." America handed the man to his kneeling Persona.

Canada had difficulty replying. "Uh... Huh?"

"Globo Man. That's his name."

"Yeah, but... You can't use him in the real world. What would be the point?"

"What else am I supposed to call him when we hardly know anything about this world? It's not like we have some kind of encyclopedia that has all their real names. And what about you? I don't see you coming up with a name for _your_ Persona."

"Uh...sure I am! I'm still deciding between a few. Hehehe..."

"Whatever. You'd probably just forget it anyway like Kumahaha."

Canada stomped his foot. "It's Kumajairo!"

* * *

"Aha! I've finally found you! What are you even doing in this place? Don't you know it can be beary dangerous around here?!"

The nations had returned to the TV world's exit, but found another creature blocking the televisions. However this one was different from the others. It could actually talk and just seemed annoyed rather than wanting to fight.

He was a large anthropomorphic bear with the appearance of a stuffed animal. The zipper around his neck was tempting the nations to see what was inside.

"Um, is that a bear?" asked Japan.

"Oh! You speak Japanese too? Konnichiwa-kuma!"

"'-kuma'?" repeated America. "What kind of tic is that?"

"Hm? Oh I don't really know. It's just a habit of mine. Some people find it _beary_ cute actually!"

"And you use bear puns in English..." said Canada.

"Hey! I can't help it! And why are we talking about the way I talk?! I still want to know why you're here in the first place!"

"Look," said America, "we don't have time for this! Our friend here just finished facing a Shadow version of himself and he's really beat so could you please move?!"

"Hm? Shadow?" The bear looked at America now carrying England. "Oh geez! Why didn't you say so sooner?!" he said stepping aside. "C'mon, hurry! I'll talk to you later! Just get your friend some help!"

The nations exited through the television and reemerged in England's room. It had mostly been cleaned up and restored in their absence. America quickly laid down the unconscious nation on his bed while Japan left to find a physician.

"Phew..." Canada said slumping into a chair. "I think I need to take a break from these TV world visits, eh."

"Hello? Are you guys still there?" The bear from before was sticking its head out of England's television. When it spotted the nations, it excitedly jumped outside. "Sorry we got off on the wrong start," he holding out his paw. "I'm Teddie! Nice to meet'cha!"

"Uh...Alfred," America replied returning the gesture. "The pooped out guy is my brother, Matthew. The sleeepyhead's name is Arthur. And the other person not here is Kiku or Honda-san since you're...Japanese apparently?"

"Let's not make things complicated. I just wanted to ask you guys a few questions."

"Alright." He sat on floor and laid back against the bed. "What do you want to know?"

"I was wondering how you guys are connected to what's been going on in the TV world?"

America shrugged. "Beats me. We don't even know what's happening ourselves."

"So how did it happen?"

"Matt? Do you want to do the explaining? I think I'd forget some of the earlier points if I did it."

Canada agreed as moved his chair closer to Teddie. He then began explaining the nations' experiences starting from the Halloween night at America's mansion. The Canadian continued speaking with little rest until the moment Teddie finally met them.

"Wow... So you guys are from all over the world?"

Canada nodded. "It's a really great circle of friends once you think about it."

"You're telling me! And I thought Japan was big!"

"Dude," said America, "Japan's just a tiny island compared to the rest of the world!" He began laughing but immediately stopped himself after a few seconds. "Oh! I didn't mean that like 'Japan sucks' or anything. It's awesome! I was just talking about land mass."

"There's so much of this world I have yet to see..."

"So what about you?" asked Canada. "What exactly _are_ you? A bear? A doll?"

"Me? I'm a Shadow!"

Canada almost fell off his seat. "Eh?!"

"Well, maybe 'reborn' Shadow if you want to get technical. Is that a problem?"

"No," said America. "It's just that...most Shadows we've met only tried to kill us."

"We're not all mean, y'know. In fact, we were getting along peacefully until now. It's like everyone suddenly got a personality change!"

"Really? So what caused it?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing. Before it was the fog, but now the Shadows are going bearserk even in bright peaceful areas!"

"And you?" asked Canada. "Why aren't you aggressive? Or were you aggressive before and suddenly became nicer?"

"I told you! I'm a special kind of Shadow!" He sighed. "So you really don't know what's going on either, huh? I guess my friends don't have much to go on..."

"There are more Shadows like you?"

"Oh no! My best friends are human. They live in Japan too! That's why I got excited when I heard Kiku's accent!"

"Where in Japan, exactly?" asked America.

"Small town, but it's the greatest place ever! Ever heard of a town called Inaba?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 - Meeting  
**

The Amagi Inn, the treasure of Inaba. According to Japan, it was a family-owned inn famous for its hot springs. However, it also had its share of bad reputation. Unsatisfied critics tended to mention the rumors of staff being involved in the disappearance and murder of a reporter who lived here, specifically the first victim of the bizarre deaths. Though over time, this rumor started to lose its effect.

After England fully recovered, Teddie had offered him and the others an invitation to meet his friends in Inaba. The nations had discussed it and eventually they accepted. While the western nations packed their bags, Japan returned home and made reservations at the Amagi Inn by Teddie's persistent recommendation.

"Welcome to the Amagi Inn," said a bowing staff member, a teenage girl with long black hair. She dressed in a pink kimono and wore a red headband. "Honda-sama, I presume?"

Japan returned the gesture. "This is a wonderful inn you have."

"I'm glad you like it," she said smiling. "It's not very often we receive international guests like the gentlemen in your party."

"Where are the hot springs?!" America quickly exclaimed only a few inches from her face.

England smacked the back of the his head. "Show more respect! This isn't your home!"

"I'll be happy to show you," the girl said giggling, "once you get settled in the VIP room."

Canada moved closer to Japan. "Hey," he whispered, "you didn't have to get us special treatment."

"Actually," Japan replied, "they offered it to me when I made the reservation. I couldn't refuse."

"If you would just follow me," the girl said extending her hand inside.

The nations were escorted to the second floor and down a long hallway until they came to the entrance of a large room. The girl slid open the door and let her guests step inside.

"So we meet again."

Already seated inside was a blue-haired girl wearing a dark blue jacket. She was accompanied by six other people: four boys and two girls spread out across the room, all of them staring at the nations with various expressions.

"I apologize for this," said the staff member as she closed the door, "but it was the only way we could meet privately."

"What going on?" Canada asked as he inched towards his brothers.

He blue-haired girl looked at Japan. "Normally I would've considered our previous meeting a coincidence. But given the circumstances, I believe that wasn't the case."

"Likewise," Japan replied.

"Teddie told us that you accepted our invitation."

"Oh, so you're Teddie's friends?" asked England. He examined each of them, noting how they were all high school teens. "Somehow I imagined you to be...older."

"...Yes," she said standing up. "I'll cut to the chase. Who are you people?"

America shrugged. "Just a bunch of friends who somehow got caught in this Midnight Channel madness."

"I see." She then reached into her coat pocket. "Perhaps I should rephrase that question. _What _are you people, exactly?"

The girl held up a black-and-white photo. It depicted Japan among a large group of political figures with the nation's face clearly identified. This drew a reaction from everyone, including the girl's friends.

"Your face seemed familiar to me," she continued, "like something from my past. Then I recalled a picture in a book I borrowed from an acquaintance of mine. I specifically remembered this picture because I was confused about why the text specified the ranks and positions of every person _except_ you. Back then I thought it was a simple mistake by the editor. But now I believe there was another reason..."

"And that would be?"

She handed the photo to Japan and sat back down. "You tell me. Your face says it all. How can a man from this time period still be alive and be roughly the same age as he was back then?"

America was about to speak before being interrupted.

"And if you say 'family resemblance' or 'time travel' without substantial proof, don't expect me to believe you."

England crossed his arms. "So Shadows and the Midnight Channel aren't any more believable?"

"Don't get me wrong," she said shaking her head. "I'd be willing to believe reincarnation or spirits taking human form, but what I previously mentioned just tells me you're trying to avoid answering truthfully."

The room was silent until America sighed. "Should we tell 'em, guys?"

"Might as well," said England. "They've already got blackmail on us."

"I'm sure you have some on us too," said the girl. "I believe it's a fair trade. Tell us who you are and we'll do the same."

"Kiku," said Canada, "do you want to do this? It's your country after all."

Japan didn't respond as he continued staring at the photograph.

"Hey, Japan?" America said shaking him by the shoulder. "You all right? You're spacing out."

"Hm? Oh...uh..." He slid the photo into his pocket. "I'm fine."

"You just called him 'Japan'," said the girl.

America gave a nervous laugh. "Did I? Hehe...guess our secret's out then, huh? I'm America. British guy's England, quiet guy's Canada, and I guess you all know Japan now."

"You're...countries?" asked one of the boys.

"More like personifications," said England. "Though I represent the United Kingdom when it comes to international matters."

"You don't believe us, do you?" asked Canada.

The girl ignored him. "In other words...you're essentially Personas of the real world?"

America grinned. "Yeah! I guess you could say that! Though without some of those super cool abilities and stuff."

"So I presume you exist so long as the country you represent still exists as well?"

"Usually. Though there's this one guy, Prussia, who lives with Germany. I still have no idea what he represents now... And I don't mean this as an insult, but he just won't _stay_ dead."

"We've told you who we are," said England. "Now it's your turn."

"Very well," said the girl. "My name is Naoto Shirogane. I'm a detective."

"Really now? I'm impressed a person of your age has already chosen that as their profession. And you already seem quite experienced."

Naoto smiled. "I appreciate the compliment, Sherlock."

"And you, miss?" he said to the staff member.

"Yukiko," she said bowing again. "Yukiko Amagi if it wasn't already obvious."

He turned to the others. "And the rest of you?"

"Yu Narukami," said a gray-haired boy. After looking at him, England felt a strange aura from him. "My friend sitting next to me is Yosuke Hanamura."

"Nice...to...meet...you," the brown-haired boy said slowly.

America couldn't help but be jealous of Yosuke's red headphones around his neck. He contemplated asking about them until he remembered England standing right behind him.

"Struggling with English?" America asked in Japanese but with an accent. "Don't worry! We can understand you guys just fine!"

"Really?" Yosuke sighed. "That's a relief..."

"You used to live in the city," said a brown-haired girl in a green tank top, "and now work in the business industry. Besides Yukiko and Naoto, I would've at least expected _you_ to be a little better than the rest of us."

"Hey, we're in a small town that rarely attracts foreigners. What would be the point?"

She ignored Yosuke and turned to England. "I'm Chie Satonaka. Sorry again for all of us just barging in here. Hehe..."

"I'm Kanji," said a tall blonde boy. "Kanji Tatsumi." Despite his bad boy appearance and younger age, he strangely reminded the nations of Germany.

"You may or may not have heard of me," said a girl with reddish-brown hair in pigtails. "I'm Rise Kujikawa. I'm sort of a teen idol here in Japan."

"Oh yeah," America said nodding. "I think he gave me one of your CDs."

Rise giggled. "Really? I guess I really _am_ popular if he's a fan!"

"And I'm sure you can guess who _I_ am!" shouted the shorter blonde boy with a familiar voice.

"Teddie?!" the Western nations exclaimed in unison.

"The one and only!" Teddie said spinning his body. "So? What do you think? I'm pretty irresistible, aren't I?"

"Um...I...I thought you were a Shadow," said England.

"I am! But I grew this body so I could score with chicks!"

"G-Grew...?! Sc-Score?!"

America was in hysterics. "Oh man! Teddie! You should totally hang out with a few friends of mine! You three would have a blast together!" He quickly pulled the boy aside, whipped out his cell phone, and began showing him pictures of a certain French and Italian duo.

"Please don't encourage him," said Chie. She was about to try stopping America, but hesitated when she saw how easily he pulled Teddie with monstrous strength.

"Alright," said Naoto, "now that we've gotten introductions out of the way, I believe it's time that my friends and I explain ourselves."

Everyone except America and Teddie gathered around a table and sat down on the matted floor. Eyes were shifting from person to person, but the focus soon fell on the nations and Naoto.

"You see, we've dealt with the Midnight Channel before, but this is the first time it's ever extended outside of Japan, that we know of anyway."

"Would you mind explaining what it is?" asked England.

"It's a special world that materializes your dreams and desires. Since you've already been there, I can assume this makes sense to you?"

"A little humiliating if you ask me..."

"Tell me about it," said Kanji.

"Judging by what Teddie told us," said Naoto, "it seems the rules don't apply any differently for individuals such as yourselves. But the real question is why. Who would have a motive to throw you people into the Midnight Channel?"

"We don't know," England said shrugging. "Very few people know of our true nature. And judging by surveillance footage we got, the person who threw America into the television seemed to be something otherworldly."

"Do you think Izanami is messing with humanity again?" Yosuke suggested to his friends.

"She promised that she wouldn't interfere anymore," said Yu. "It has to be someone else."

"Pardon," said England, "but could you explain this 'Izanami'?"

"Izanami was a demon who wanted to grant humanity's desire. She gave me and a few others the power to summon Personas and made us representatives in her experiment. After a crazy year, my friends and I managed to stop her from fulfilling our 'supposed' desire."

"And that would be?"

"Blanket the entire world in her fog and turn everyone into Shadows."

Canada was shivering. "Creepy... Why would she even think all of us would want that?"

"Her winning rep had _serious _issues," Yosuke replied.

"There's also another problem," said Naoto. "It appears we've lost the ability to enter the Midnight Channel and presumably use our Personas as well. All except Teddie, but we only believe it's because he's a resident."

"How does one acquire that ability in the first place?" asked England.

"The ability gets awakened by someone else," said Yu. "In my case, it was Izanami disguised as a gas station attendant. You only need one person with it. Or at least, that's how it's supposed to be. Not even Teddie can help us get back inside now."

"Have you all been in contact with a common person before the first person disappeared?" asked Naoto.

"I don't believe so," said England. "We all kept to ourselves that night. The second occurrence was partially of my own volition."

"I see. So we don't have much to go on besides past experience." She sighed and stood up. "Sorry to have wasted your time, but it appears we couldn't help you guys as much as we wanted."

"No need for apologies. At least now we know a little more of what's happening."

"Hey," said Rise as she leaned over the table, "if you don't mind, could you tell me more about where you're from? I've always wanted to know what living in other countries was like!"

England was surprised. Not many people expressed interest in his culture beyond the stereotypes. "Certainly! Would you like me to show you how to make some of my finest dishes?"

Rise cheerily accepted. Meanwhile everyone else was lurching away in fear as bad memories flooded their minds. The fact both parties had similar reactions did not help ease their spirits. The only people not affected were America, who didn't really care about England's cooking, and Teddie, who was still deeply engrossed by America's stories about foreign women.

"And it gets even better when you speak their language, _if you know what I mean~!_"

* * *

"I'm still not convinced. How do we really know you're countries?"

It was late night when Yosuke and the others boys were soaking in the outdoor hot springs with the nations. The only person absent was Japan who had retired early to his room. England was spending most of the time answering the teens' questions. He wanted to let his brothers speak for a change, but they were otherwise preoccupied. Canada had gotten too relaxed in the water and dozed off while America was submerged up to just under his nose and blowing bubbles.

"Our varying accents aren't enough?"

"You could be faking it."

"Don't be absurd. You lucky I'm not regressing to Old English."

"But you're speaking Japanese," said Kanji.

"Shall I speak Old Japanese then?" He always wanted to try this after Japan gave him a few lessons.

"No need," said Yosuke, "but don't you have anything from like a hundred years ago or something even older?"

"I'm afraid 'Pack my old treasures' was not on my To-Do list before I came here."

"Well...what about a story?"

"About what? Just so you know, I'm not exactly fond of remembering certain parts of my past...though I am trying to deal with that now."

"You should see his old pirate outfit!" America exclaimed. "I try to get him to wear it again for Halloween, but he keeps turning it down!"

England contemplated shoving the nation back underwater but decided against it. "Shall I tell them about every ridiculous phase you went through? Which decade should I start? Or perhaps century?"

"...I'll be quiet."

"So what's your relationship exactly?" asked Kanji. "Brothers? Cousins?"

"Adopted brother," said England. "Canada as well."

"So if every colony of the British Empire is your... Oh dang, dude. You must have one messed up family."

"You should come to our family reunions!" said America. "You don't know the meaning of 'chaos' until you've been to one! One time I invited and went with my friend, Poland, and somehow left with a very angry Switzerland!"

"That...doesn't even make sense."

"It never does!"

Yosuke sighed. "This was totally not an answer to my question... Whatever. I'll just believe you guys for now. You seem crazy enough already."

"You want crazy? Then you see what happens when Spain gets his hands on some booze! England was _not _happy when-!"

That was it. England lunged at America and tried to hold him down long enough for the man to pass out. Unfortunately for England, the American's abnormal strength was fierce and their positions were soon reversed. Eventually wooden buckets were flying through the air while the other boys made a hasty retreat to the safety of the hotel.

"They're even crazier than the girls!"

"If this is just sibling rivalry, I scared of what a _real _fight would be like."

"I'm just wondering how the Canadian dude can sleep through all this."

* * *

"When it comes to fulfilling my duty towards my country, I certainly didn't expect it to be like this."

Naoto sat across from Japan. Earlier the nation had politely asked if she would meet with him again once everyone left for some nightly leisure time.

"So...I take it you have a more personal question that you didn't want your friends to hear?"

Japan nodded. "I've been trying to behave rationally throughout all of this, but...I'm starting to get worried."

"About?"

"My Shadow. If I continue helping my friends, I'm bound to encounter him eventually, right?"

"So you want advice on what to do when it happens?" She sighed. "You're asking the wrong person. I was the last person to join the Investigation Team, ironically, and that was after I fell victim to my Shadow. As mature as I may look, I still had difficulty accepting the truth."

"I just worried that I may end up being a hypocrite after what I said to England when we fought his Shadow. That picture you gave me... It stirred up some unpleasant memories I'd rather forget."

"The only advice I can offer is to never deny him. Doing so will only make him go berserk. And have your friends around to support you. Sometimes they know you better than you know yourself."

"Friends..."

Japan recalled the times he lived as a hikikomori, isolated from the rest of the world besides Netherlands. After almost two and a half centuries of confinement, he finally ventured out into the world. He was anxious, but America managed to inspire confidence in him. Soon one thing led to another, and now he knew many people whom he was proud to call "friend".

"Arigato, Naoto," he said smiling. "I think I can sleep a little better tonight."

"You're welcome." She then pulled out a card and handed it to the nation. "Contact me and the others if you ever need help with anything. And about what I said earlier, you can try talking to Yu. He's pretty strange but quite insightful and a good friend. You sort of remind me of him when I look at your face."

"Hehe. Yes, well...he _is_ Japanese, isn't he?"

* * *

America burped. Loudly.

The nations and Investigation Team were gathered downstairs for breakfast. Most were wondering where America had gotten a caffeinated beverage when no such thing was served at the table. Yukiko was the first to leave though it was because she was worried if guests had been disturbed by the unexplained vibrations. England was just relieved he had Japan request a private room to eat.

"Your brother's certainly...energetic," said Naoto.

"Don't let his manners deceive you," England replied. "He can be surprisingly well behaved and considerate if he actually tries."

"Really?" said Rise. "Could you give us an example?"

"Just look inside his main closet," said Canada, "he has a bunch of really nice clothes in there. Sure, he doesn't wear them much, but it's still impressive when he does. He acts like a completely different person then."

"In others words, he cleans up nicely~"

The other Investigation Team members had difficulty swallowing after that statement.

"Ehehe... I wouldn't try your luck. Every girl ends up breaking up with him because they can't handle his hobbies."

"Oh? Is that a challenge I hear?"

"I'm being serious! The longest relationship was only three days! And that was because she was unconscious in the hospital for one of them!"

The others worriedly stared at the American peacefully eating with chopsticks. The girls wondered what exactly were these "hobbies" while the guys wondered what this man was truly capable of.

"Are you even going to deny any of this, dude?" asked Kanji.

"Why?" said America. "It's all true. Though I'm not sure how that archeological dig ended up being 'the most terrifying experience of my life' for the last one."

"What about you?" Rise said to Canada. "You're his brother and cute to boot~!"

The Canadian was nervously waving his hands. "Uh, I'm sorry but—"

"Don't bother," America interrupted. "He's still getting over his last breakup. I think she was a famous chick too. You'll just end up reminding him about her."

Rise pouted. "Alright, England. I'm sure _you'd_ be free sometime."

"What makes you think I'm not seeing anyone?!" the Briton exclaimed.

"Dude," said America, "your denial just proves it."

"Why are you so fixed on dating these guys anyway?" asked Chie.

"Yeah," said Yosuke. "And besides, aren't you guys immortal in a way? I don't mean to be a downer, but what would be the point of dating?"

"Teddie's immortal," said Yu, "and he still tries to score chicks."

"Yeah, but these people are normal...or at least more normal than Teddie."

"We countries are not all guys, y'know," said America. "Though the ladies can be... Uh... How can I put it?"

"Taxing?" said Canada.

He nodded. "Yeah. Belarus gets real clingy, and that's if she's not already doing it to her brother. Ukraine's kinda weird, but not in like the _bad_ sort of way. And I'm pretty sure Hungary's still got the hots for her ex-husband."

"Not the most appealing women, are they?" said Naoto.

"I'm not saying that! They're just...not my type."

"So none of you swing both ways?" Yu asked expressionless.

This time everyone almost choked on their food. England had to be escorted outside by America who now actually felt queasy at the thought of food now. Yosuke was next, running out screaming after Yu performed the Heimlich on him.

"You can really do that?" Teddie asked no one in particular.

The others ignored him as Canada spoke up. "Um...well...that's kind of a really personal question, isn't it?"

"So is that a yes?"

* * *

After returning to the nations' room and changing into more casual clothing, America had decided to accompany England while he strolled through Inaba, both of them soon drawn by teaming voices to the Central Shopping District.

"Nice to see a market this lively in a small rural town," said England.

America was moving his head left and right, eying the wares out on display as he passed. "They're not selling much cool stuff though."

"Why did you come with me anyway? I said that I wasn't going anywhere in particular."

"Well, neither was I. Better to have someone with me if I got lost, right?"

"Then you should have gone with Japan."

"He said there was something important he had to take care of back in Tokyo. And I needed to get away from Canada for a bit. I love him, but this sudden bonding thing is a little too much. If I didn't know any better, it's Belarus all over again. Hehehe..."

"Please, Canada's not _that_ obsessive."

"Yeah, I know... So what do you think he would want from here?"

England stopped. "Excuse me?"

"What gift should I get Canada?"

He approached America and felt his forehead. "Are you sick or something?"

The annoyed American pulled the hand away. "No! What's the matter with you?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. I just expected you to go shopping for gifts on impulse again."

"Well now I'm asking! What do you think he'd want?!"

"You sure there isn't something wrong? Did Canada do something to you?"

"That's ridiculous! I'm just trying to do something nice for him, eh!"

England went silent for a moment. "What...? What did you—?"

America immediately covered his mouth after realizing what he just said.

A wide grin appeared on his face. Then it turned into hysterical laughter. "OH. MY. G-AHAHAHAHA! You're—! Hehehe! You're—! AHAHAHAHAHA!"

America wasn't sure if he was supposed to be embarrassed, horrified, or maybe both. He was positive England never laughed this hard before. If he did, America's history with him clearly did not extend far back enough. And England was crying now. Part of America wanted to help the man while another part urged the American to savor this moment.

But other people soon began to take notice. It wasn't hard to spot a blonde, Caucasian man collapsed in the middle of a Japanese street.

"Excuse me," said someone behind America. He was gray-haired man wearing a similar-colored shirt, red tie, and dress pants. "Is your friend okay?"

"Y-Yeah," America replied. "I just told a him a really funny joke!"

"Well, I can't arrest someone for excessive laughter. But if this keeps up, I may have to punish you guys for disturbing the peace."

"_Crap!" _America quickly grabbed England's arm and pulled him to his feet. The Briton still had difficulty calming himself, but he was at least able to walk. "Do you know a place with a little less people?" America asked the cop.

The man glanced at his wristwatch. "Of course. Follow me."

The nations were escorted to a nearby park. There were still people around, but now England's laughter was softer and overshadowed by the merry sound of children in the playground area.

"Thanks for helping us out," America said as he sat down on a bench.

"No need for thanks." The man sat on the opposite bench and lit a cigarette. "Just doing my job," he said blowing a puff of smoke. "So you're tourists, huh? And foreign too. We don't see that here often."

"A friend invited us. We're staying at the Amagi Inn."

"Oh, my nephew has a friend who works there. You enjoying your stay so far?"

"Totally! We love it! But it hasn't been how we planned it."

"You can't expect everything to go according to plan."

"Well, yeah...but..." He sighed. "It's difficult to explain."

"Haha! I'll take your word for it."

"What about you? What kind of cop are you?"

"Police detective. Technically it really wasn't my business to stop you two, but I had to do something about it."

"Sorry. This doesn't usually happen." He paused. "Actually, this is the first time!"

"Heh. Maybe now I get what you meant by your plans being messed up."

America nodded. "Yeah. Arthur's normally not like this... Oh, I'm Alfred by the way. Alfred F. Jones."

"Ryotaro Dojima."

He turned his head to England. The Briton was still laughing but significantly calmer. "Well, I better wait until Arthur stops having his laughing fit. Then it's off to more exploring I guess!"

Dojima stood up. "If you're getting hungry, why don't you come with me to a place my daughter absolutely loves to eat. Plenty of variety! Well, variety that a small town can provide."

America's eyes were glistening. "Really?! Sweet! I am _so_ there!" He immediately slung England over his shoulder and dashed for the exit, waving for Dokima to hurry up.

* * *

"_Every day's great at your Junes!_"

That jingle was now constantly replaying in Canada's mind whether he liked it or not. After the nations departed one by one from the hotel, Canada was stuck with the Investigation Team, all except Yu and Naoto. The former needed to run an errand while the latter opted to stay behind despite her friends' protests. Seeing how the nation had nowhere to go, the Investigation Team decided to show him around town. Eventually, they took Canada to one of the most popular places in town, the Junes Department Store.

"Welcome to Junes!" said Yosuke. "Pretty sweet for a town like this, huh?"

Canada nodded. "Sure is! But...it's kind of hard to impress me when you have the biggest mall in North America. Ehehe..."

"Does that mean I can get a discount if I'm ever in town on an international tour?" asked Rise.

"I don't see why not," he said smiling. "Just ask for me if you're ever in Edmonton."

Yosuke frowned. "Ten seconds and I already lost two customers..."

"Don't worry, Yosuke!" exclaimed Teddie as he ran inside. "I can make that up for you!"

"W-Wait! Teddie! You're supposed to work the register today!" The automatic doors then shut. "Aaaaand he's gone..."

"You work here?" asked Canada.

"My dad's the manager. Teddie's usually our mascot when he's got the bear costume on, but sometimes he fills in for people who call out sick or can't make it."

"Wow. I wish Kamijirou was that helpful, especially around the house..."

"Who?"

Canada chuckled. "Exactly! And he's my pet bear."

"You keep a _bear_ as a pet?" asked Kanji.

"He's harmless and small enough to carry around."

"That fact you're saying that like it's a normal thing is what bothers me."

"When you're what I am, you learn to adjust. Plus you should see what the others have. America has a whale living in his pool."

"Pool parties must be...interesting," said Chie.

"There's a reason why he got 'Bull of the Sea' as a nickname, though he's much friendlier once you fall off. I almost beat the record once too."

"Whale riding?" said Yukiko. "That actually sounds like fun!"

"Hey," said Yosuke, "I think you're all forgetting why we came here! If we were going to talk about these country guys, we should've just stayed at the hotel!"

"I'm sorry," Canada replied. "I'll make it up to you. Why don't I treat everyone for lunch and buy some souvenirs from Junes?"

He excitedly grabbed the nation's arm. "Now you're talking! It just so happens we're pulling out our winter line today. Have I got a _deal_ for _you_!"

The teens watched as Yosuke dragged the awkwardly smiling Canada through the front doors. The nation had some relief while he and Yosuke stopped to wait for the elevator. He looked back at the others only to receive pity shrugs and shouts telling him to endure the torment for now.

_Why me...?_

* * *

"Oh man, Chie, you were right! Mmm~! This steak is great!"

As fate would have it, the two groups reunited at Junes' outdoor food court. Chie had accidentally bumped into America when the two tried getting in line to order food. After paying and getting reacquainted, she directed the nation to where the others were sitting down. Space was getting tight so Yosuke ended up pulling in an extra table.

"But did you really have to order _ten_ of them?" asked Chie. "Is this how much you normally eat? How do you stay so fit?"

"Exercise."

"That's it?!"

"You must have a secret," said Rise. Then she turned to Canada. "C'mon! You've got to know it!"

Canada didn't respond and continued eating his meal. The world around him was tuned out as he focused on England. "Did something happen to him?" he thought. The Briton was grinning, and he wouldn't stop! And why was America ignoring this? Oblivious as he was, he would still know if something was wrong with England.

"Matt," said America. "Bro, you're spacing out again."

"Huh? Oh, sorry about that. I was thinking about something."

"Did you overblow it with your spending?" asked Kanji.

Resting under the table and in front of Canada's feet were five large shopping bags. The total cost wasn't taxing on the nation's wallet, but half of the contents were items he didn't even want. But Canada purchased them in hopes that Yosuke would finally let him leave. Now he just prayed he could give them away as gifts once he returned home.

"N-No. It's a personal thing really." He then quickly changed his demeanor. "So, Al, how were things with you and Arthur?"

America stopped eating and glanced at England. "Oh...nothing special. Walked around, took in the sights, told a few jokes." He mentally sighed in relief when the Briton didn't react to the last part. "Met a nice detective man too," he said pointing to Dojima.

"I hope these kids aren't giving you too much trouble," the detective said to Canada. "By the way, how did you meet?"

The Investigation Team members worriedly looked at each other. Of all people, they had forgotten to create a believable excuse for the only detective in town they personally knew.

"They're...Teddie's friends," said Yukiko. "He met them on a trip!"

"Teddie?" Ryotaro turned to the Shadow. "I knew you traveled, but I didn't know you left Japan for places out west. Can you afford all those tickets on your salary?"

"Y-Yeah!" said Teddie. "Actually...sorta. I-um..."

"We do lots of traveling too," said America. "Part of the business and all that. We met Teddie while staying in Hokkaido. Helped us out of a bind."

"Th-That's right! We became great friends after that!"

"I see," said Ryotaro. "What are your jobs anyway?"

"Archeologist," America replied. "But Dojima, do you _really_ want me to bore everyone here about the significance and history the broken handle of a clay pot can tell?"

"I...guess not."

"Great! So let's back to talking about everyone's day!" He stood and leaned across the table. "Maaatt, what'cha get me from the store?"

Canada shrunk back. "Um...a new sweater? Because you to like to complain about getting cold when you visit my house for some reason?"

"It's brand new and he got a discount!" said Yosuke. "You can thank me later."

"Awesome!" exclaimed America. "And what about Arthur? Did you get something for him? I bet it's cooler than mine! Please say yes." His eyes were desperate now. "Please tell me you got something amazing for him!"

"Al, what exactly happened between—?"

England instantly broke into laughter before the Canadian could finish. He began pounding the table while clutching his stomach that was already sore from his previous fit. Dojima was doing his best to calm down the Briton again while the rest stared at them, confused about what was happening.

America could only sigh and slumped forward. "I probably deserved this..."

While the awkwardness continued, America's cell phone vibrated, playing the melody of "Das Deutschlandlied". Odd considering that America told Germany that he would be away for a few days. Normally the German would just send a text telling America to check his recordings when he returned home.

Looking around, America saw the others still being distracted so answering would surely pass the time for the situation to settle itself.

"Ludwig...? Yeah, I'm with them... Right now...? But what's so—...? Huh...? Are you serious...?! Okay, okay! I can pull some strings, but we still won't be able to get there until at least tomorrow morning... Yeah, we'll see you there."

"What's wrong?" asked Dojima.

America looked at the others who quickly understood what he happened when they saw his face. "Feliciano, our friend in Italy, suddenly went missing in his home."

* * *

**English proficiencies:**

**Basic - Yosuke**

**Conversational - Chie, Yukiko, Rise, Dojima**

**Fluent - Yu, Naoto, Kanji**

**Bilingual - Teddie**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 - Shadow  
**

"This is all your fault, potato bastard! You planned this all along, didn't you?! You waited until the right moment to kill Veneziano and hide the body, you damn Na—!"

"Romano! I know you're angry, but that's taking it too far!"

Spain was holding back a furious Romano trying claw Germany in any place he could reach. After learning about his brother's disappearance, Romano wanted the German to hurt in any way possible. Even before he arrived, he fantasized at least a hundred, mostly elaborate, ways to get revenge. Spain was just glad he was here before a serious struggle could break out.

"Lo siento, Alemania! I'm sure he didn't mean it!"

"It's fine..." Germany said slowly distancing himself from the Italian. "I believe I would share similar feelings if it was Prussia."

"Like you'd know what feelings are!" Romano struggled even harder and resorted to biting Spain's arms. "Let go of me, damn it! I'm going to rip every damn piece of hair from that bastard's skull!"

"Calmate, Romano!" Spain forced his former ward onto the couch and sat next to him. He maintained close watch on Romano but otherwise let go of him. "I don't know much of what's happening. Could you explain?"

"That bastard killed my brother! That's what happened!"

Germany ignored him. "Remember when America disappeared a few weeks ago?"

Spain nodded. "Crazy man kidnapped and shot him a few times, right?"

"Yes, well...it's actually more complicated than that. We were trying to keep it a secret to avoid panic, but...now you two are here."

"So the same thing happened to Veneziano?"

He nodded. "I'm afraid he's now trapped in some sort of strange TV world."

"Now you're just making up dumb lies to save your ass!" exclaimed Romano.

"I would be glad to prove it once America and the others arrive." He paused when he heard the doorbell. "Ah, that must be them. I'm surprised they got here so quickly."

Spain firmly held onto Romano's arm, believing he'd try something while Germany's back was turned. Unfortunately the Spaniard was right when he found the handle of a knife sticking out of the Italian's back pocket.

Germany opened the door to find France standing outside. The Frenchman was fidgeting , but his tensions eased up once he spotted Spain and Romano.

"Oh, thank goodness you two are unharmed!" he exclaimed running past Germany.

"Hahaha! Likewise, amigo!"

"France," said Germany, "were you alone? Not that I don't appreciate your concern for Italy, but I was expecting America, Canada, and England."

"Them? I didn't even know they were coming."

"But America called about half an hour ago saying they were almost here?"

France pondered the possibilities of the American's word choice. Everyone knew that boy's occasional tendency to be unclear. "You don't think he'd actually...fly here, do you?"

"What? That's ridiculous. He wouldn't go that far to be on time...would he?"

"Canada and England are reasonable people," said Spain. "They would never allow it."

"Then why do I feel the floor shaking?" asked Romano, feeling increasing vibrations throughout the house.

"That Dummkopf!"

The nations dropped to the floor and braced themselves for whatever aircraft was about to crash into the house. Romano screamed when the vibrations grew more intense. Spain's parental instincts soon kicked in as he tossed himself over the Italian.

"If I die," said France, "I just want to know you've all been wonderful, irreplaceable friends!"

The tremors continued as the nations reflected on their lives. Germany was horrified knowing his death meant _Prussia_ could inherit his lands and duties. France was spouting a very long list of women to whom he never apologized. Spain lamented how he never got both Italies to marry him or at least live together in his house. Romano was just angry he never got to throw a punch at Germany.

Yet the destruction never came. Despite their fears, the nations were left unharmed as the shaking steadily came to a stop. Germany and France were the first to raise their heads and look around. Romano was last when Spain finally told him it was safe.

"What in the world was that?" asked Spain.

"An earthquake?" suggested France.

"I don't think so," Germany said looking out a window. "No car alarms. No panicked citizens. Just people walking around like nothing even happened."

"Wait, something's shaking again!"

The nations turned their heads towards Italy's television set. It was rocking back and forth as ripples appeared on the screen like in water. Romano grew fearful and backed up against the wall with Spain. France was about to investigate, but Germany beat him to it. He carefully approached the screen and leaned forward.

The German could hear a faint scream, but it definitely didn't belong to Italy. He would recognize his voice anywhere. It seemed to be growing louder. Soon everyone in the room could hear it.

"Out of the way! Out of the way!"

Germany didn't have time to react. The next thing he saw was America's face colliding with his own. They were both sent flying back at Romano. Spain managed to push the Italian aside only to be at the receiving end of the impact. The pile only grew when the television rocketed Canada, England, and Teddie on top of them.

"Whose idea was this?!" exclaimed England.

"Mine..." moaned Canada. "I'm sorry. I think America's rubbing off on me."

"It's Teddie's fault!" exclaimed America. "He didn't tell us we'd come out like that!"

The Shadow, now in his bear suit again, was flailing atop everyone. "I told you that I've never tried this before! I didn't even think it would work!"

"Well it did," said England, "at the cost of injuring ourselves. Who did I land on anyway?"

"Me..." muttered Span.

"What?! Spain?! Terrific, Teddie! You sent us to the wrong country!"

"I don't even know where Japan is!" exclaimed the Shadow. "Give me a break!"

"Could everyone please get off of me?" asked Germany. He was the unlucky one being crushed by the nations' combined weight.

Though still sandwiched, America waved with his free arm. "Oh hiya, Germany! What're you doing in Spain?"

He was gritting teeth. "One: You're not in Spain. This is Italy. Two: Get off of me!"

The German finally lost his patience and pushed over the pile of nations, each person rolling off the one below him. France then hurried to help America and Canada while Romano assisted Spain.

"Thank you, nobody," England said as he sat up. "I appreciate the _loving_ support."

"Don't worry," Teddie said grabbing England's hand. "I've got you!"

"Thank you very much, Teddie," he said straightening his clothes. "Why is the most well mannered person here the one I only just met?"

"It's good to see you too," said France.

"Um, what just happened?" asked Romano. He then pointed at Teddie. "And what the hell is _that_ thing?!"

"I'm not a thing!" exclaimed Teddie. "I'm a Shadow!"

"And it talks too!"

"We'll explain later," said America. "Is everyone ready to save Veneziano?"

"You mean you know where he is?" France asked overjoyed.

He nodded and pointed back at the television. "Sure do! Once Teddie's finished doing his thing, hop on in!"

"It'll juuust be a moment," said Teddie. He was switching between banging the television's side and sticking his head through the screen. "This could go a lot faster if I knew what to look for. Something important that belongs to him or what his dungeon looks like...?"

"I...think I can find one of his stupid white flags somewhere," Romano said as he left the room.

"Germany," said England, "how did you learn about Italy's disappearance?"

The German sat down on the couch to concentrate. "Well, I believe it all started a few days ago..."

* * *

_"Ever since America's disappearance, Veneziano had been extremely paranoid to the point of calling me every single night."_

* * *

Germany was sitting at his desk, filling out some paperwork until the phone rang. He didn't even have to look at the caller ID to know who it was. This was much too familiar for him yet he still he picked up the phone, albeit hesitantly.

"Germany! Germany!" This was probably the tenth time in a row he had heard this shouted into his ear. "I heard a scary noise outside! I think it might be the killer!"

"Italy, we've gone over this before. It's probably just Aster or Blackie running around the courtyard and brushing against your bushes."

"But there's no barking!"

"Then there's no intruder."

"Can I just sleep at your house tonight?"

He sighed. "Italy, you can't just cross the border every time you want to go to bed. Also it would just look suspicious for Austria and Switzerland if their authorities started to recognize you. You're a grown man, and I can't always be there to help you."

"Just for tonight then?"

"I can't now. I have to catch a flight soon." He could hear the Italian whimpering. "But if you need company, let Berlitz sleep with you. He likes snuggling next to someone before going to bed. By the way, did you remember to feed them?"

"Sì..."

"Walk them? Give them their bath?"

"Sì, sì..."

"Alright then. Is there anything else you wanted?"

"...Sing me a lullaby."

* * *

"_Veneziano kept calling despite how many times I told him he was safe."_

_"Shows how much of a big fat liar you are, jackass!"_

_"Anyway...there was the day I finished by work early, but it was still too late to go out..."_

* * *

Germany sat in the darkness of his living room. His only company was the glowing light of his television. He muted the volume just to observe how quiet it was. His dogs were gone because he entrusted them to Italy until his paranoia (hopefully) went away. And Prussia was nowhere to be found. Normally this was the time he'd come bursting through the door, loudly announcing his arrival before passing out on the couch. Then Germany would either put a blanket over him or carry him to his bedroom if his clothes weren't dirty.

_"Before I only dreamed of this. Now that it's real, I can't say I like it..."_

He didn't know why he was still awake. The previous day was particularly exhausting for him. But Italy's phone calls had practically become a routine part of his schedule. It didn't feel right to _not_ pick up the phone and hear that Italian man's distressed voice before going to bed.

"What time is it anyway?" He turned his head to the digital clock mounted on his wall. "23:59? He would've called by now... Huh?!"

The screen suddenly switched off, leaving Germany in pitch darkness. The German tried to feel around for the remote, but stopped when the television came to life once again. However it was displaying a different channel than before.

It was the city of Pisa but devoid of life and covered with gloomy clouds. There were no signs of a disaster happening yet the city was still abandoned. The camera was moving around the streets until it stopped and focused on the location's most famous landmark, but something was strangely wrong with it.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa now had extra floors added. Its height was tall enough to extend through the clouds and cast a looming shadow over the city.

"Ciao!"

And there was Italy, dressed in a golden gladiator's uniform for some reason. Ignoring his outdated and odd fashion choice, Germany noticed this man was like a completely different person. Italy had a smug grin on his face, the menacing kind that Germany never believed he could actually pull off. The Italian's eyes were also wide open, the golden tint only emphasizing their determination and fearlessness.

"To show everyone how strong I am, I'm going to fight my way up to the summit and defeat the champion!" He then drew his blade, one that Germany recalled seeing when Italy showed him the treasures of his inheritance. "And I'll do it with Grandpa Rome's sword! Anyone who challenges me will never match the might of the Roman Empire!" He waved to the camera before running towards the entrance. "See you at the top!"

The television finally switched off, Germany still bewildered at what he just saw. He questioned himself if he was dreaming. That would certainly be his preferred explanation, but he knew what happened. The German was soon in his room, getting dressed for an emergency trip across the southern borders.

* * *

"I contacted you once I got here," Germany said to America's group. "Italy's neighbors were quick to realize something was wrong. Apparently he likes to come outside every morning to greet them. I'm assuming the other half of you found out because you were listed as his contacts?"

"I received the call," said Spain, "but I was worried about how Romano would react. I was surprised I got here before him."

"Because I got stuck with Greece!" exclaimed Romano. "That man wouldn't let me leave until I named some of his cats! Like he'd even remember which one was which anyway!" He shoved one of Italy's white flags into Teddie's paw. "Here! Now find my stupid brother already!"

"No need to be all antsy," the Shadow whined as he sniffed the object. "Oh! I think I smelled this before! Hold on!" He banged on the television a few more times and stuck his head inside. "Yup! This is it! Giant tower, right? Everyone can jump on in now!"

"I call first!" America exclaimed as he dove inside.

"It's not a race," England said following him.

Romano was hesitating when he got closer. "Um...is this going to hurt?"

"Just don't go head first like what America did," Teddie replied. "There might be a slight drop so you may want to hold onto something like the bottom of the screen."

"Coming from you...that just makes me feel worse."

"Want me to hold your hand?" Spain cheerfully asked.

"On second thought..." Romano quickly jumped inside.

"He's so cute when he's flustered~!" he said following him.

Germany was next now that there someone to keep Romano in check on the other side. Considering his stature, Canada assisted him with squeezing through.

France stopped in front of the screen to face Teddie. "Merci, Monsieur Teddie. I truly appreciate what you're doing for us."

"You can thank me by introducing me to some chicks like America said!"

"Ohon? Did he put in a good word for me about that? Perhaps he did inherit something from me after all~!"

* * *

"Oh my! It's been so long since I've held on of these!"

Spain was happily rubbing his cheek against the pole of his new halberd. But this came at an inappropriate time as Romano was mischievously pointing his new submachine gun at Germany. The Italian was boasting how he had the superior weapon and how the German essentially received nothing, just new gloves with hardened knuckles.

"Espagne!" exclaimed France. "Control your child!"

"What did you say, damn it?!"

France hurriedly drew his rapier even though it wouldn't be very effective. Thankfully his former ward came to his aid.

"You shoot him, I shoot you." said Canada, pretending to disable the safety. "I may not be Finland, but I still tend not to miss..."

"G-Guys," said America, "you're just gonna start another war!"

"That potato bastard already declared war when he threw Veneziano in here!"

"Romano," said England, "I know you're concerned about your brother, but you can't just go around shooting people who you don't even know are guilty."

"He's always been guilty!"

"Then where's you evidence? Present substantial proof that Germany committed the deed, and you'll have permission to shoot him."

"England!" America exclaimed shaking the Briton. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"What want proof?" asked Romano. "I'll get your proof, damn it!"

Romano finally lowered his weapon but immediately dashed for the tower before someone could grab him. On a positive note, the Italian's departure snapped Spain out of his infatuation.

"Ah! Romano! Don't run off on your own!"

Spain hurried after him, shouting various phrases in Spanish and Italian begging him to return. Worried about his friend, France also rushed to his side.

"Spain! France! Wait!" America clutched his head in distress. "Ugh! This group is already falling apart and we just got here!"

"Perhaps I should've evaluated my words before I spoke," England said guilty.

"And maybe threatening him wasn't the best idea," said Canada.

"Let's just get moving!" exclaimed Teddie. "If we hurry, we can still catch up with them!"

Everyone unanimously agreed and ran after their missing members. By the time they reached the dungeon's entrance, they only found France and Spain. The duo was standing back to back, already engaged in a battle against Shadows that resembled undead warriors from various time periods. They were performing decently, but their lack of knowledge on these creatures' weaknesses was preventing any significant progress in thinning their numbers.

America's group soon dispersed and joined the fight. The Persona users formed the perimeter to deal with most of the advancing Shadows.

To the nations' surprise, Teddie revealed his ability to use a Persona as well, Kamui-Moshiri. It seemed particularly fond of kamikaze attacks that barely damaged itself. If it wasn't doing that, the Persona was either blasting Shadows with powerful ice magic or healing everyone injuries.

Everyone quickly gained fondness for their new ally. Germany liked it battle prowess. England was impressed with its magical ability and king-like appearance. France admired the painted rose and flowing red cape. Spain enjoyed the rainbow paint job on its torpedo head-like body and the how the mischievous face reminded him of Romano on a good day. America and Canada just wondered why there was a rocket "sticking out of its ass".

"Where's Romano?" England asked standing beside France. He summoned an ice wall to block the attacks directed at the Frenchman, allowing him to strike once it was lowered.

France pointed his blade at the far end of the room. "He got scared and ran towards that circle. It took him somewhere else with magic, I think."

"My expertise, huh?"

England examined the surrounding area, making note of everyone's positions. There was a seemingly endless wave of Shadows from all sides. If one fell, another one dropped from the darkness of the ceiling to replace it. The newcomers were faring well now with some assistance from Canada. On the other side, America and Teddie were easily holding half of the Shadow forces at bay.

With his Persona providing protection and support, England ran towards the magic circle. Once he made it, the Briton set aside his tome to examine the glyphs. They were different from the ones he utilized, but he could mostly figure out their functions based on similarities in placement and design.

_"Definitely teleportation... Only one active link to a circle above us, probably the second floor... Hm, the other links remain inactive... Let's see if we can change that..."_

After memorizing the original positions, England began rearranging the glyphs. The first few minutes were mostly trial-and-error methods to understand each connection. England sensed the many circles above connecting and disconnecting as he moved each glyph to a certain place. Once he found a common pattern, he reset the positions and arranged them in a new order.

"That should do it!"

England commanded his Persona to draw its sword. It was then thrust into the circle like its pedestal. Once the blade pierced the floor, the circled began rapidly expanding, repelling the aggressive Shadows. A blinding light consumed England's team, and once it subsided, they found themselves in an identical room that was free of enemies.

"Where are we?" asked Canada.

"About halfway up the tower," England replied. "I managed to find Romano, but he was climbing at a ridiculously fast pace, faster than I could move the glyphs anyway. I was barely able to keep track of him..."

Spain laughed. "Yup! That's definitely Romano!"

"So where is he?" asked Germany.

"Like I said, he was going too fast. I just rigged the circle to take us a few floors ahead of him." England glanced behind him. "Romano should be here about...now."

Precisely on cue, Romano appeared from one of the circles screaming as loud as he could. Germany quickly held out his arm and caught the Italian. While he was squirming in the German's hold, Spain confiscated his gun and handed it to America.

"Romano! Calmate! You're safe now!"

"You think I'm safe?! This bastard's going to kill me too!"

Germany loosened his grip, but not enough for Romano to slip away. "No. I'm not."

"Liar!" He then glared at the other nations. "Why are you idiots helping this monster?! It's obvious he did it!"

"Romano," said Canada, "you're just letting your emotions take control of you."

"Like you're one to talk!"

"Romano," said Spain, "I know you miss your brother. We both do. But if you don't calm down and stop running off, we'll get nowhere."

"W-What makes you think I miss him?! He...He was always doing stupid things that were bound to get him killed anyway!"

_"Please, stop deluding yourself. You love your brother more than anything. Of course, you'd never have the balls to admit that."_

Shadow Romano stood across the room, arms crossed with a wide grin. His appearance was causing mixed reactions. The Persona users were readying their weapons. France and Spain took this as a signal to prepare themselves as well. But they were hesitant, unsure of what would happen if they attacked. The veterans hoped this situation wouldn't turn ugly, but if this was Romano, it was probably inevitable. Germany's surprise made him accidentally let go of his captive though the Italian didn't bother trying to run.

"W-Who the hell are you?"

"Isn't it obvious? I know you're not an idiot like your brother. That's probably the only thing you have over him: intelligence."

"Don't you compare me to him, damn it!"

"Ooo~! I struck a nerve, didn't I? Hahaha! Let's build on that!" He began counting on his fingers. "You've always been jealous of your precious little brother. You wish you had half the talents he has. And you envy him to the point of pretending he doesn't exist!"

"That's—!"

"Oh, but there's also another side to it! Despite your envy, you know how important Veneziano's talents are to Italy. You'd _kill_ if something ever happened to him. No wonder you hate Germany so much!"

"Sh-Shut up! None of that is true!"

"Hehe... Maybe about the 'Germany' part, but you can't deny what else I said. It's always 'Veneziano', 'Veneziano'! Nobody cares about Romano! Not even Grandpa Rome showed any appreciation for me. If he were still alive, I bet he wouldn't even know who you were talking about if you mentioned me."

"Stop it! Don't you even dare utter his name!"

He sighed. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. There are tons of things I could say that would make you angry. Why don't I go down the list? I already covered Italy and Grandpa Rome... Let's move onto to Spain!"

"That's enough," the Spaniard said sternly. "You're already making Romano cry."

"I'm not crying!" Romano exclaimed rubbing his eyes.

Shadow Romano shook his head at Spain. "Oh no, hermano! I want you to hear this too! Now where should I begi—?"

The Shadow fell over, impaled in the chest by Spain's tossed halberd. The other nations were speechless. Not because it happened, but because _Spain_ was _willing_ to do it. Romano was truly disturbed when he saw how the Spaniard's expressionless face. But that soon changed in a look of concern when he knelt beside him.

"Are you okay, Romano?"

"You...You actually—!"

He gently wrapped his arms around the Italian. "You don't have to listen to him any longer," he said softly.

"That was very rude," said Shadow Romano. Everyone was taken aback as they saw him rise to his feet, calmly removing the halberd without even flinching. "You taught me better manners than that, Spagna~"

"He's still alive?!" exclaimed England.

"These kinds of Shadows can't be killed," said Teddie. "The only way to get rid of them for good is to accept them."

"Surely there's another way?" asked France.

"Yeah...let them kill you."

"Romano," said Canada, "that guy over there... No matter how twisted he seems, no matter what he says, you have to remember he's still you!"

"That man?" asked Romano. "He's _me_? You must be out of your mind! I'm right here! That man is NOT ME, damn it!

"Oh crap! I'm sorry, everyone!"

Shadow Romano broke into laughter as he began his transformation. His new appearance was surprisingly more human compared to the others. He took the form of a man in dark, ragged clothes. His face was hidden behind a torn scarf and the shadow of his dirty cap. He wielded a knife in a reverse grip that he constantly juggled in the air.

"I am a shadow! The true self! I'm not some inferior lowlife, damn it!"

The Shadow's speed was phenomenal. Before he could react, Canada's Persona was already pinned down and receiving a few stabs in the arms. The Canadian cried out as he fell to his knees. The pain didn't stop until Shadow Romano snatched the rifle from the Persona's back.

"Everyone get down!"

England used his Persona to summon a dome-shaped barrier around the group. The Shadow fired the stolen weapon but only at half of its maximum efficiency. After failing to penetrate the defense, he discarded the rifle and dashed towards the other Personas.

Globo Man fired a spray of energy shots while Kamui-Moshiri was conjuring randomly scattered ice pillars to slow down their opponent. Shadow Romano suffered a few hits, yet he continued advancing and lunged at Teddie's Persona. His blade couldn't pierce its armor, but he seized its cape and pulled it over its face, disorienting the Persona and allowing Shadow Romano to swing him at Globo Man. Soon both their masters were down.

"Damn it! He's too fast!"

"Romano!" exclaimed England. "Quit being stubborn! You're our only hope if we want to survive this!"

The Shadow was beating down the barrier. England's Persona couldn't retaliate as long as it was still active. Risking a counterattack at the sake of his friends' lives was not something the Briton wanted to do.

"No I'm not! All he said was a complete lie!"

"Hahaha... AHAHAHAHAHA! Whatever you say! You're all going to die here!" His strikes grew more fierce. "Veneziano always gets the attention! Nothing I do means anything! Grandpa never loved me! Hahaha! And Spain... You were the closest thing to a friend I had!"

The Spainiard was still holding onto his former ward. "Romano... You're not meaningless. You're just as important as your brother."

"He has a point," said France. "You are quite the hard worker, Romano."

"Only because I have to make up for what I don't have!"

"Oh, come on!" said America. "Stop putting yourself down all the time! Even a hero has his flaws, but that doesn't stop him from being a good person!"

"If you just opened up more," said Canada, "maybe you'd realize how many of us really appreciate you and try to help. I don't know how many times I got redirected to Veneziano's house because you said no."

Spain held the Italian's shoulders and stared directly into his eyes. "Answer me this, Romano. Do you love your fratello?"

"I...I worry about him."

"That's not what I asked."

"I can't keep this up forever!" exclaimed England. His barrier was starting to form cracks, and the Shadow was excitedly slashing each one.

Romano still had difficulty facing the Spaniard. He tried turning away only to be forced back. He didn't like it when Spain got annoyed, especially if he had changed into his serious mode. Those eyes always had a haunting feeling to them, but Romano knew he wouldn't be free, not until the Spaniard got what he wanted.

"Okay, okay! I do love him, damn it! More than anything!"

Spain then pointed to the menace over their heads. "Do you want Venziano to experience that? Is that what you want?!"

"No... He'd wouldn't even survive."

The barrier finally shattered as the Shadow stabbed the biggest crack he made. The group then immediately scattered, all except Spain and Romano who remained stationary. England was forced use his Persona as a living shield. Its armor prevented any major injuries, but England could still feel cramp-like sensations where the Shadow struck.

"Then ayúdanos, Romano!"

The Shadow managed to slip past England's Persona and charged forward. Spain barely had time to dodge after he shoved back Romano. Both of them were blown even further away once the Shadow had passed. America and Teddie hurried to intercept the next attack while the others assisted the fallen nations.

"Try and get through this!"

Teddie summoned a massive ice wall that separated Shadow Romano's side of the room. America could see the silohuette trying to slash its way through to no effect. After a few seconds, the Shadow began to climb. He quickly reached the top and didn't hesitate to jump back down with his weapon ready.

America grinned. "Hah! Now we've got you!"

Globo Man fired a few rounds only for them to be easily blocked. Almost immediately afterward, Kamui-Moshiri was charging forward. Shadow Romano prepared to block but nothing ever came. Once he lowered his arms, he saw the Persona throw Germany as a projectile. The Shadow swung only for the German to land on the blade. Germany then seized his arm and hurled him at the ice wall, shattering it upon impact.

As the Shadow plummeted, America, England, and their Personas didn't waste any time. They unloaded the most bullets and magic their bodies could allow them. The Briton then concluded it with a powerful explosion.

When the smoke cleared, Teddie escorted Romano to meet his other self. The Shadow was still standing though back in its human form. He glared at Romano, waiting for those trigger words that would set off his rampage again.

The Italian was blushing with embarassment. He couldn't believe the situation he was now in. The only thing that could make this worse would be Spain remarking something about their past together.

"You're me, okay?" he said avoiding eye contact. "That's all I have to say to you!"

Shadow Romano smiled, holding out his arm for a handshake. His counterpart was surprised by the sudden mood change. He was hesitant but eventually returned the gesture.

_"Aiutati che Dio t'aiuta."_

Romano's Shadow faded yet the projection of his Persona never appeared. Yet the Italian was still engulfed by a blue light and collapsed from exhaustion.

"That's weird," said Teddie. "He should have a Persona now. I wonder what happened?"

"Romano only represents South Italy," said England. "Perhaps he needs Veneziano to summon it? Though that would contradictory if I can use mine without my elder brothers."

"If it's true, it would be the first time I ever heard of it."

"Sounds like Romano got gypped if you ask me," said America. "Don'cha think it's kind of lame if he has to share?"

"Maybe they're complementary?" suggested Canada. "His main strength appeared to be speed though his physical power was lacking. Italy could fix that by being a hard hitter."

"Veneziano? A bruiser?" The disturbing image of a hulking Veneziano with bigger muscles was burned into Germany's mind. "I'd rather not think about that..."

"Anyway," said England, "it looks like we'll have to separate on the account of Romano's unconsciousness. Not to be insensitive, but do you think you can manage by yourself, Spain?"

"I won't be very effective." The Spaniard picked up his halberd and demonstrated how he was extremely hindered with Romano's arms around his neck. "May I have an escort?"

"I'll go," said Canada. "Using my rifle will probably just make my arms hurt even more."

"But you'll still be a handicapped group," said France. He shrugged and soon joined them. "But if you insist, I'll be glad to accompany you!" He then leaned on the Canadian's shoulder. "Maybe I can finally get you to call me your 'frère aîné', Canada~!"

"Je crois que non..."


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:**

**- Yeah, I didn't realize Ancient Rome and Romano have a better relationship in canon than how I wrote it in the last chapter. In my defense, it's apparently only shown in a single sketch I didn't even know about...**

* * *

**Chapter 7 - Burden**

The Colosseum, one of the greatest pieces of Roman architecture ever constructed, and one of the many scattered remnants of what used to be the great Roman Empire. Now it belonged to the Italy brothers having inherited it from their grandfather. This massive amphitheatre had deteriorated over the years, but now the Italians did their best to preserve their grandfather's legacy as long as possible.

One of Italy's greatest yet unrealistic dreams was to see his grandfather's treasure in its original glory again. But perhaps it wasn't as unrealistic as he originally believed. When the Italian woke up, this was exactly where he found himself. The floor, the seats, the walls; everything was restored. This would have pleased Italy but unfortunately dreams can be twisted.

A large sand cloud consumed the Colosseum, drastically reducing Italy's vision. At first he shut his eyes and limited his breathing, but time soon revealed that the environment had apparently no effect on his health. Soon the Italian began to wander, trying to feel his way for an exit and relying on the foggy memory of the times he came here with his grandfather.

_"What's going on here? The last thing I remember was-Augh!"_

Italy had tripped over a loose floorboard. After getting back up, he recalled the existence of hidden entrances into the hypogeum. His grandfather had pointed out some of them during performances here. Italy knew those tunnels well, or least the roofless, modern day versions. As long as he could find a light source, the exit wouldn't be far.

"Huh?!"

Italy pulled open the plank to only find the hole filled almost to brim with sand. He could only assume the rest of the underground was inaccessible now.

"Now what?" he whimpered.

Footsteps then echoed in the Italian's ear. He quickly grabbed the nearby plank and held it closely. Once he turned around, there was another figure standing there, but the sand cloud only made him visible as a silhouette. As he drew closer, Italy could start making out a few familiar details.

"Grandpa Rome?"

"I wish," Shadow Italy said revealing himself. "Though I have to admit," he said running his fingers through his hair, "I do enjoy inheriting his looks!"

Italy didn't know how to react. This man looked exactly like himself yet he behaved like a completely different person. "W-Who are you?" he asked meekly.

He scowled. "I was _supposed _to be the successor of the Roman Empire, but all I got stuck with was a tiny boot. Then that boot constantly got torn apart and had to get sewn back together again." He sighed and crossed his arms. "Though I guess it doesn't matter in the end. It's not like I could've done anything about it. I grew weak and that's all I'll ever be."

"You're not weak as long as you have friends."

The Shadow grinned. "So constantly relying on Germany makes you stronger? Always making him come to your rescue because you can't do it by yourself?" He began speaking in a mocking tone. "Germany! Germany! Save me! Save me!"

"I...I've done plenty of things by myself!"

"And how many of those actually succeeded and didn't result in Germany showing up anyway?"

Italy didn't have an answer.

"Face it! You're just a burden to him and always will be not matter how hard you try! Germany might care, but realistically, he doesn't _need_ you to survive! There are plenty of people who'd be a better friend than you!"

"No! Stop saying all these mean things!"

Shadow Italy crouched down in front of his counterpart and pointed at his heart. "But deep down you know it's true~! It's one of the reasons why you're so attached to him. Germany doesn't need you! Germany! Germany! Germany!"

Italy was breaking into tears.

"I know how you feel," he said changing his tone completely. "It eats away at you... Germany may assure your friendship, but it's never enough to completely stop it!" He continued as his counterpart remained unresponsive. "It's okay. It's who we are after all. I am you."

"No! You're—!"

Meanwhile, the magic circle in the middle of the arena was activating. Soon America, England, Teddie and Germany were soon teleported inside, all of them slightly disoriented by the environment.

"What is this?" America asked putting a sleeve over his mouth. "A sandstorm?"

"Ugh, I'll clear it," said England. He used wind magic to disperse the cloud, but it was only enough to clear the arena portion. "Hm? The Colosseum? What in the blazes?"

Germany was the first realize who else was present. "Ah! Italy!"

Unfortunately the Italian couldn't hear his friend as he continued speaking with his Shadow. "You're NOT ME!"

The short distance between Italy and his counterpart was enough to sent the former flying as the latter transformed. Germany rushed to catch him while the others summoned their Personas.

Shadow Italy became a larger gladiator masked by his helmet. The strong winds created by his transformation were enough to finally disperse the sand cloud and allow his golden armor to gleam in the Sun. Equipped on his arm was a shield embellished with the Stella d'Italia.

"I am a shadow... The true self..." He drew his sword and raised it over his head. "I am the champion of the Roman Empire! I will never lose to such weaklings like you!"

While the Persona users confronted the Shadow, Germany was shaking the unconscious Italy.

"Italy! Wake up!"

The Italian didn't respond to Germany's pleas, but he was still mumbling a few words. "No... Don't leave..."

He was having a nightmare. Just perfect, Germany thought. He removed his coat and folded it into a makeshift pillow. He gently placed it under Italy's head before turning towards the Shadow and taking a defensive stance.

"I've always wanted to know what my mother saw in you criminal brutes," England said flipping through pages.

"Probably the bravery to face death," Shadow Italy replied, "something you likely lack if you cheated your way up here."

"Exploiting a weakness in the design," said America. "I don't see anything wrong with that. Totally fair."

"Hmph. I see your point." He then raised his shield. "But weakness can be overcome with strength. Though not the cowardly, so-called strength that pitiful excuse for an Italian adheres to!"

"And what's so wrong with that?!" America had Globo Man charge forth and deliver a few successive jabs though his attack was fully blocked. "Friends are supposed have the hero's back! Make them get stronger together!"

"And what good did that do him?" he asked parrying the Persona's swing and slashing its chest. "If anything, Germany spoiled him! Italy never grew stronger! It just gained a bodyguard!" He seized Globo Man's arm and hurled him towards the wall. "Italy needs to become strong on its own and prove its worth!"

"Which cannot be done if it's incapable!" exclaimed England. He spawned a violent whirlwind around the Shadow and launched numerous icicles at him. "You spout your egotistical claim about being the new Roman Empire yet it's exactly your arrogance that caused the original's downfall in the first place!" As his icicles swarmed like bees, England finally brought down multiple lightning bolts.

Shadow Italy was struck twice, but he managed to roll away from the remaining attacks. After regaining his posture, he charged at England who countered with a barrier. However the Briton underestimated the Shadow's strength and made it too weak. It shattered and sent him and his Persona flying back.

"Is it not the successor's role to amend where his predecessor went wrong?"

"It is," England said pushing himself up, "but you're doing a terrible job at it!"

"So you want me to stand down and let Italy's progress continue to be hindered? Is that what you truly want?!"

"It's better than letting a monster like you take over!" exclaimed Teddie. The bear was riding atop Kamui-Moshiri diving overhead. "Eat this!"

Shadow Italy managed to raised his shield in time but still suffered heavy damage from the following explosion. Teddie and his Persona soon emerged unharmed, making a hasty retreat towards a safe distance. At this point, Germany began walking forward.

"Is this what you truly believe?" he asked while entering the smoke. "It's one thing to take pride in one's own ability, but to dismiss the notion of growing stronger through your friendships?"

The Shadow was down on one knee, barely supporting himself with his sword stuck in the ground.

"Italy taught me that better than anyone, you Dummkopf!"

Germany delivered a powerful uppercut to the weakened gladiator, defeating him before he even hit ground. When the Shadow returned to human form, he was unconscious just like his counterpart. Once realizing this, Germany hurried to Italy's side with the others soon following.

"Italy! C'mon! Wake up already!"

The Italian finally stirred, uttering Germany's name as he opened his eyes. He sat up and looked around only to find his Shadow awake and staring at him as well.

"Ah, Germany!" Italy tightly gripped the German's shirt while frantically shaking his head. "Don't listen to what he's saying! I...I don't feel that way at all...! I just—!"

Germany placed a hand over the Italian's mouth and smiled knowingly. "I may not know what happened before I got here, but you're not alone, Italy. And you're much stronger than you realize."

"He's right," America added. "Why did you think I sent all those letters asking you to be my sidekick? You rock, dude!"

"Ignoring the fact America also sent those letters to France, Germany, and me," said England, "I have to admit that you can handle yourself very well now."

"And we've only just met," said Teddie, "but I can already tell you're a beary swell guy!"

"Now don't be afraid," said Germany. "We're all counting on you now." He finally let go and gave the Italian a slight push.

Italy continued walking forward and knelt beside his Shadow. He avoided looking at his face, instead staring at the armor reminiscent of his grandfather's.

"Okay... I was scared. I've always been scared... Scared that Germany would abandon me. I wanted to be strong, but I never thought it was enough. Maybe he really doesn't need me, but I still want to be there!" He grabbed the Shadow's hand with both of his own and held it to his tear-running face. "And if I was as strong as Grandpa Rome, I wouldn't have to worry about anything! Maybe I could protect Germany for a change!" Italy further fell to his elbows. "That's who you are...! That's who I am...!"

Italy was expecting to be scolded but soon felt a hand gently brushing across his head. He looked up and almost thought he saw his grandfather giving him one last comforting smile before he departed for the afterlife.

The others rushed to Italy's aide once he fainted. Just like before, the disappearance of his Shadow didn't reveal the appearance of his Persona, assuming he even acquired one.

"That was some confession," said America.

"Like yours was any better," said England.

He was going to retort with an insult, but couldn't help grinning. "Hehe. It was kinda cheesy and clichéd, wasn't it?"

The Briton chuckled as well. "At least yours wasn't the same idea over and over again. Hehehe... Oh my, I sounded silly back then, didn't I?"

"I hate to interrupt your bonding," Germany said carrying Italy, "but could you please reconfigure this circle?"

* * *

"Waaaaah! Take it back! Take it back! Take it back!"

America and his team returned to Veneziano's house only to find a deeply blushing Canada angrily beating France with a large pillow. The Frenchman was shouting gibberish and covering his ears while lying on the floor. Spain and Romano, the latter unnecessarily bandaged in some places, were just sitting together on the couch watching this spectacle unfold. No serious harm was being done, but it was still a strange sight.

"Uh...what's going on?"

"France called Canada his son!" Spain said laughing.

"France _accidentally_ called Canada his son," Romano corrected him.

"I am NOT his son!" Canada exclaimed multiple times.

"Well duh," said America. "You're England son!"

The American's comment only made his brother redirect his rage. Soon they were engaged in a pillow fight with the Canadian already at a massive disadvantage, not that he cared at this point. England and France tried to step in and pull them apart only to eventually join the struggle and start wrestling each other.

Meanwhile Germany laid the still unconscious Italy on Romano's lap and sat next to him.

"Wha—? What's the meaning of this?"

"It was obvious you were the one who was the most worried for Veneziano's safety."

"But did you really have to just dump his body on me?!"

"Fine. I'll just take him to his room the—"

"No! I mean...I'll do it, but there's...one other thing I need to do first."

In less than a second, Germany felt like his entire brain had ceased to function. Romano was hugging him. _Romano was hugging him._ Either this was a nightmare or something was deeply wrong with the Italian.

"So close..." he whispered. "I could kill you right now...but I won't."

Romano hurriedly picked up his brother and carried him outside the room towards the staircase. As soon as he left, Germany was searching every part of his body for anything the Italian may have planted. A bomb, a deadly animal, poison, anything!

"Don't worry," said Spain. "That's just how Romano says thank you! Hahaha!"

"The fact he still did it to _me _freaks me out." He continued observing the ongoing fight. America and France had formed an alliance against England and Canada though it didn't take long for a betrayal. "I'm starting to think I should join them, get this out of my mind."

"I want to join in too, but I don't have anything to get angry over..."

"How about this?" Germany asked pelting the Spaniard with a few pillows.

"Ha! Nice shot! But can you handle _this_?"

"Woah, woah, woah! What are you doing?!" exclaimed Teddie.

Spain had grabbed the bear by his paw and swung at Germany only for the German to knock Teddie out of his hand and towards the other nations. Despite his size, the Shadow was easily bouncing off everyone's heads and sent flying again by their swings. He was desperately begging for the fight to stop as he continued being juggled across the room.

"G-Guys! Stop it! I enjoy crowd surfing, but not like this!"

* * *

Italy woke up the next day. The first thing he saw was his brother sleeping next to him, covered in removed bandages. Normally Veneziano would wake up Romano to wish him a good morning, but today he decided against it. He sat up carefully trying to make minimal noise though his mattress made that task difficult, though Romano still remained asleep. Veneziano then hurried to his closet, got dressed, and sneaked out the door.

He headed downstairs and into the living room only to find it empty. Pillows and blankets were scattered across the floor. The only thing in orderly condition was the second couch by the window with a certain German's jacket hanging off the side.

Italy followed the noise he heard from the kitchen. As he passed under the doorway, he found his friends sitting around the table. All of them were drinking coffee. Some were also eating bread rolls and cookies from the two large plates laid out in the center.

"Oh! It's true! You really _don't_ have any bones!"

Spain was sitting next to a blonde teen unfamiliar to Italy. The Spaniard was holding the boy's arm and playfully squeezing it though it didn't stop the victim from wincing.

"Hahaha! This is so much fun!"

"Dude, you're like a freak of nature!" The rest of America's rambling was unintelligible as he munched on a bread roll.

"And you're saying you 'grew' this body?" asked Germany. "Can all members of your species do this?"

Teddie shrugged, or at least he tried to with one arm. "Maybe. I'm the first and only one as far as I know."

Italy didn't speak as he sat down in an open chair next to Germany, reaching for the treat closest to him.

"Oh, good morning, Italy," said England. "Is something the matter?"

"Just a little sad about what I put you all through..."

"Don't worry about it," Germany said handing his friend a latte. "We're just glad you're safe."

"You want me to cook something?" asked America. "I may not make Italian dishes as good as yours, but I can try."

Italy shook his head. "It's okay. This bread is enough." He pointed across the table. "Can someone give me the jam?"

"I know you're a little depressed," England said complying with the request, "but if you could, do you mind telling us what you remember?"

He stopped eating and put his hands down on his lap. "I thought it was a dream...but I saw him..."

"You saw the man responsible?" asked France.

"I don't know. I just followed him inside."

"Wait a minute," said Germany. "You _purposely_ went inside the TV world?"

"It's was Grandpa Rome! I thought he would protect me!"

"Grandpa...Rome?" Spain repeated. "Tu abuelo? Are you sure?"

Italy nodded. "He was calling to me from the television. He looked a little scared, a way I never saw him before. But when I went through, I lost consciousness."

"Are you saying he knocked you out cold?" asked America.

"No! He would never!"

"But isn't Ancient Rome dead?" asked Canada.

"He is," said Spain. "But you and your brother aren't 'descended' the same way as us Europeans. I still receive visits from Hispania although they've become much rarer now."

"Don't remind me about those," said England. "Whenever Mum appears, she always scolds me about how I don't get along with my brothers."

"Please continue," Germany said to Italy. "Do you remember anything else? Or anything your grandfather said or did?"

Italy shook his head. "Sorry..."

He sat back. "So we have nothing to go on...again."

"But now we know Ancient Rome is involved somehow," said England. "Perhaps he was trying to warn Italy about something from the afterlife?"

"What about Romano?" asked Spain. "Maybe he tried to contact him too."

"Haven't seen him for years," said the cranky Italian. Romano was standing under the doorway having listened to the last few minutes of the conversation. He then took a seat next to his brother. "Last time I saw him was before all this craziness started."

He sighed. "So no more clues, huh?"

"We can't just stop now," said England. "Isn't there anyone else who might know something about Rome? Preferably interacted with him?"

"They're all either dead or were just children back then," said France. "Well, there's China, but I doubt he and Rome knew much about each other."

"Aren't you guys forgetting something?" asked Canada. "I hate to say it, but Ancient Rome isn't exactly free of suspicion either, eh."

Both Italies angrily stood up. "Canada!"

The Canadian did the same. "I'm just saying! Most of you have a bias having grown up under his influence! It's been almost two millenniums! People can change if any of you have forgotten that!"

"I have to agree," America said pulling his brother back down, "but there's still 'innocent until proven guilty' and all that."

He pouted in embarrassment. "I'm sorry. I just had to say it."

"You had every right to," said England, "but we still haven't gotten any closer to figuring out this case."

"I don't like the sound of what I'm about to say," said Germany, "but I think we should wait until he makes contact again."

"And risk another one of us getting trapped inside of the TV world?"

"I know the risks, but what other choice do we have? Wander around that strange land until we find him?"

"You do have a point, but this case is starting getting out of hand. We never even wanted to get Spain and Romano involved and yet it happened."

"I've been thinking about that since we returned... I believe it's finally time we request help from our friends and neighbors, or at least inform them of what's happening."

"I'm sorry," said Canada, "but I don't want to indirectly cause the culprit to go after them."

"But if we don't tell them," said Spain, "it might be too late to save them."

"It seems we're at a disagreement," said France. The nations eyed him, knowing what would come next. "Shall we?"

Everyone casted their votes, each Italy counting separately. The tally ended in a tie. Canada, France, England, and Veneziano voted to remain quiet about the case. America, Germany, Spain, and Romano opted to expose it. Soon their eyes fell on Teddie who was too nervous to move.

"Well, Teddie? You're the tie-breaker."

"B-But I'm not like you guys! I'm not a country!"

"Sure you are!" said America. "You're the Kingdom of Televisionland!" Some nations rolled their eyes at that.

Teddie stared down at the reflection in his coffee. "Then...can I ask something first?"

"Of course," said England.

"When this happened before...my friends and I kept quiet too...and people still got hurt. Even someone innocent and really important to me ended up dying in the hospital... I don't want to relive that moment ever again." He then looked up. "If I say yes, will all of you promise to make sure no one dies because of the Midnight Channel ever again?"

"We'll do everything in our power," said Germany.

"Alright!" he said standing up. "Then I say you do it! Tell your friends about the dangers of my world and how it's affecting them!"


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 - King**

Unbeknownst to the public, the United Nations' headquarters housed an entire complex for the nations' use. If their representatives weren't meeting in the upstairs, they would meeting down here. And today was the start of a three-day summit. Attendance wasn't mandatory given the short, sudden notice, but the fact eight nations declared its utmost importance would definitely garner attention.

The conference room contained numerous desks arranged in a circular formation, large enough to fit every member. Each seat was equipped with a monitor, built-in camera, microphone, speaker, and headphones for easier communication. Other features were made at the individual nation's request as long as it was reasonable.

England sat patiently, eying the only other nations here: Germany and Japan. Given the large distances between their seats, England pulled up their monitors.

"On behalf of the others, I apologize for not including you in the vote, Japan."

"It's okay. My vote would have just produced another stalemate."

"But we could've proposed an alternative," said Germany.

"No. I believe Teddie was a suitable replacement for me. He has the most experience after all."

"If you insist..." He glanced at his watch. "Almost thirty minutes left."

"And not even all the hosts are present yet," said England. "You'd think America would be the first one here."

"Isn't that why we arrived early?" asked Japan. "To make sure the meeting went on schedule?"

"I suppose that's something we have in common," he said grinning. "If only the others shared our priorities."

Soon the rest of the attending nations began to appear. Most were making casual conversation as they took their seats. If separated, they simply continued their chat over the monitors. The present nations couldn't help but eavesdrop. Most of them were discussing today's agenda, expressing their hopes that it was worth their time.

The European section filled up quickly, yet the missing host nations from that group still hadn't arrived. Germany asked Austria and Hungary for the Italians' whereabouts only to receive unsure responses, but he did learn that France and Spain were trying get his brother to leave the restroom. Apparently he challenged America to an eating contest during breakfast. Germany didn't even need to know the results. He was just curious why Prussia was here in the first place.

Meanwhile, America and Canada arrived together and took their seats near England.

"Not late as usual, Canada?"

"I used America as my alarm clock this time."

He grinned. "Clever but still risky."

"At least we're here," said the annoyed American wiping his mouth with a napkin.

Among the next group to arrive were the Italy brothers. Romano was pulling a dazed and sloppily dressed Veneziano towards their seats.

"Oh my," said Belgium turning away from her brother. "What happened to him?"

Romano was trying to steady Veneziano in his chair. "My stupid brother overslept and wouldn't wake up. I had to dress him myself."

"You couldn't have at least buttoned his jacket properly?" Netherlands asked pointing to Veneziano's chest. The buttons weren't even aligned with their respective holes.

Romano blushed as he hurriedly tried to fix it. "We were late enough as it was, damn it!"

Finally with almost a minute to spare, France and Spain came lugging a very pale Prussia through the doorway. Since the latter nation had no seat in this chamber, he was simply laid back against the wall and kept under the watchful eye of his brother.

Now with every host and presumably every attending nation present, England dimmed the lights. He passed a signal to Germany, informing him that he could take the stage now.

"Good afternoon, everyone." His face appeared on the monitors. "I would like to thank all of you for taking the time to be here despite the short notice. We apologize for any inconvenience it may have caused, but we believed this issue had to be addressed as soon as possible." He picked up a nearby paper listing the agenda. "As you may or may not have heard, America was the victim of kidnapping on October 31st."

On cue, America joined Germany while pushing a cart carrying a television. "It's all cool though!" he said waving. "I'm still A-Okay!"

Some sighed with relief. Others rolled their eyes in disappoint. The rest just hid their reactions.

"After some investigation," Germany continued, "most of it carried out by America, Canada, England, and Japan, we have reason to believe the culprit is targeting us."

"Where's your proof?" asked China. A small uproar of similar responses followed him.

"My brother got kidnapped too, you asshole!"

Spain quickly grabbed Romano. "Settle down! China didn't mean it like that!"

"I'm just saying," said China. "It could be entirely something else."

"Oh, I think you'll _love_ what we have in store for you," America said winking. He pushed the cart towards China and then slammed his fist on the television. "You're up, dude!"

China sat back as he stared at the screen. He was expecting a live broadcast from America's so-called proof until the television began shaking. He then looked at the American who only returned a smile. Glancing towards his left, he noticed Korea had scooted his chair further away. It took a moment for him to realize he was only mimicking Japan's action toward his right, and the Japanese nation was grinning.

"What are you planning, aru?!"

"Introducing—Waaah!"

Teddie emerged from the television but ended up crashing into China, the nation's chair falling back as a result. Those nearby leaned their heads to see this amusing sight. Others were either standing up or trying to get their monitors to zoom in on them.

"Hahaha! Sorry, Teddie!" America walked around China's desk and tried pulling on the bear. "Hm? Uh, Teddie? You can let go of him."

"I'm not holding him..."

"No~" China said rubbing his entire face against Teddie's fabric. "Don't take him! He's one of the most adorable things I've ever seen in my lifetime~!"

"I invented that!" shouted Korea.

"_Help...me!_"

"Sorry, dude," said America. "There's no stopping China when he gets like this."

"Given our guest speaker being...preoccupied," said Germany, "I'll speak in his behalf." He waited until the nations were properly seated again before pulling up a full-body photo of Teddie and his human self. It also including x-ray images that revealed the latter's boneless body. "The creature you just witnessed come from the television is a being known as a 'Shadow'. He comes from a world that manifests one's inner desires, one the results of which are these Shadows. Although Teddie himself is a special case given his ability to interact with humans and speak our languages."

"For the past few weeks," he continued, "Teddie and his friends have been trying to investigate strange activity in his world. Normally Shadows are docile unless aggravated, but that has changed. And it just so happens the start of this new behavior corresponds to the date America disappeared."

Another uproar arose, forcing Germany to call for order. Once the voices had quieted down, he pulled up an image of Veneziano happily posing beside a marble bust of his grandfather.

"The second and latest victim was Italy Veneziano. The unique part about his case was that it revealed the involvement of Ancient Rome. Unfortunately, we weren't able to learn what his _exact_ role is."

"Which is why the nine of us called this meeting," England said taking over. "We'd like everyone's opinion on how to handle this matter. Act now or let them strike first? Remember that this doesn't just affect our homes, but us as individuals as well. Age, power, wealth; none of that matters. Everyone's equal here."

"We understand this might warrant more time to make your decision. Because of this, we'll hold the final vote tomorrow morning. As for our next topic, we'll be discussing the TV world in more detail. Originally Teddie was supposed to assist with this matter, but we'll just leave it to our other guests speakers."

Germany's directed the nations' attention to the eastern entrance. Light poured in from the hallway, shadowing the two figures entering the room. They soon joined Germany on the stage, causing some confused reactions once the nations realized their apparent ages.

"Greetings, everyone. My name is Naoto Shirogane."

"Yu Narukami."

* * *

The meeting had concluded with a brief recap of the agenda and a reminder of tomorrow's vote. After being dismissed, the nations were then free to enjoy their leisure time, though England and Germany stayed behind to answer some lingering questions. Meanwhile, America and Japan had taken their guests the dining hall.

If not roaming the streets of New York City for a nice restaurant, nations usually stopped here. Meals were usually prepared during the meeting and then laid out in a buffet, but if America's food wasn't to their liking, the extra kitchen was still available.

"Here you go," Japan said handing out bentos to the Investigation Team.

"Sorry about this," said America. "I would've treated you guys somewhere, but it's cold, raining, and even I have trouble getting a quick ride in the Big Apple."

"It's no problem," said Naoto. "Just being here is amazing enough. But truthfully, I would've much rather seen the Hague's Peace Palace instead."

"Well this was more 'security' than 'law' so..."

"Yes, I understand. Though surprisingly," she said turning around, watching the shenanigans around her unfold, "you personifications sure do like to be carefree when off duty."

Denmark was standing atop the Nordic table, shouting something in Danish while holding a glass of beer in the air, only to be forcefully pulled back down by Norway a few seconds later. Embarrassed, Iceland quietly snuck off with his tray and sat down with Turkey though not much conversation occurred with Greece glaring over from the next table.

A fight was starting to break out over at the Asian table. Naoto couldn't comprehend the mixture of languages being used, but she was still able to pick out certain words. If she interpreted correctly, apparently someone "contaminated" China's soup, and they were all reduced to placing blames on each other. And then there was something about "breasts".

Prussia was _still_ feeling unwell, slumping over his table. France sat next him, asking Hungary for exactly what he ate during breakfast. Naoto could overhear the woman mentioning how someone decided to be funny and include the most disgusting yet edible dishes available in the contest. Spain sat on the other side of the table, trying to spoon-feed the former nation despite Romano angrily telling him to stop.

"Is this how all of you normally behave?"

"Here? Haha! Yeah, pretty much!" replied America. "The more serious guys probably went out though. They know how chaotic this place gets sometimes."

"Uh, should we move then?" asked Teddie.

"Don't worry. Crazy as everyone is, they don't want to leave a bad impression on guests. Like right now..."

"Please excuse Denmark's previous display," Norway said approaching them. "Unfortunately, he decided to add extra alcohol to his meal."

"Just keep doing what you're doing," said America. "Drunk Denmark's kinda unpredictable..."

"That won't be a problem." He turned to the Investigation Team. "I apologize again," he said bowing, then walked away.

"Perhaps I should've told him the bow wasn't necessary," said Naoto.

"He was just respecting our culture," said Japan.

"That's Norway for you," said America, "always taking responsibility when paired with Denmark."

"They seem like good friends," said Naoto.

"You can tell? Haha! Some would think the opposite!"

"What about you, America?" asked Yu.

"What? My friends? Aw yeah, I have tons of great ones! Like Japan here," he said pointing. "We _love _hanging out with each other, especially for gaming!"

"And England?"

"Hm? England's cool, if not a little snobbish, but still a great guy all around."

"And your relationship?"

His eyes narrowed. "Alright, are you still hung up on asking if I'm bi or not?"

"You never answered last time, just left the room. And I'm curious."

"...Just eat your raw fish," he said turning away.

* * *

England was the only nation left in the conference room. After waving goodbye to Romania and Bulgaria, he returned to his desk and collected his scattered papers.

_Seems like a good number are taking active interest in this case. Perhaps Germany and the others were right. I was just being paranoid._

He closed his suitcase and set it on his chair.

_But there's still matter of Ancient Rome. Everyone who stayed behind simply asked for more clarification about the TV world._

"England."

Another figure stood beneath the doorway, one that normally shouldn't be here. And, of course, it just had to be one with a strained relationship with England.

"Hong Kong. Always a pleasure."

"Relax. I'm not here to annoy you with firecrackers again."

"Oh? Then you've obviously come to get me to undo that curse."

He grinned, truly surprising England. "I actually enjoy these gifts, thank you very much."

"If you love them so much, shall I make it permanent?"

"Let's not get hasty. I didn't risk secretly coming here without China's permission just to pick a fight with you."

"You have a point," he said crossing his arms and sitting on his desk. "Very well. What do you wish to discuss?"

Hong Kong pressed a button on the wall, closing the door and engaging the lock. "It's China. He's hiding something."

"Hiding what exactly? Explain."

"That, I don't know. All I know is that he was behaving strangely during the Halloween party. He never participated in _anything_, not even a short conversation with his friends. He just restricted himself to walking around and the occasional stop at the buffet tables. I followed him through every room multiple times. It was like he was searching for something, or someone."

"And how does this relate to the case?"

"I was with him when we got the call about America's disappearance. That reaction of his was _much_ too horrified for their present relationship. Naturally, China tried to pass it off by complaining that America still owed him those trillions of yuan. I just feigned ignorance."

"You never confronted him about this yet?"

He shook his head. "China would never admit it if I asked, so I let the incident fade into memory. Then you and your friends called this meeting. China didn't hesitate to start making preparations for the trip once he saw the topics in the agenda."

"So when he was asking for proof about the TV world..."

He nodded. "I was eavesdropping outside so there's no need to explain everything again."

"Now how do you suppose we get him to confess?"

"I was thinking magic."

"Ironically enough, I don't have a truth spell. I can make him _lie_, but of course, that won't exactly help us legally convict him."

"Then I suggest keeping an eye on him. He's bound to slip up sometime. Once he does, seize him."

"And can I trust you to report any additional findings?"

Hong Kong held out his hand. "What's that saying of yours? Don't cross your bridges before you come to them?"

England smirked, returning the gesture with a firm grip. "I believe this is the most civil conversation we've had since you left."

"Don't expect another anytime soon."

* * *

"Woo! I'm red again! Alright, Number 7! Get me another beer!"

Without saying a word, Norway leaned forward and retrieved a bottle from the table set up in the middle of the circle.

"Here."

"Oh no, I'm not done! Sit on my lap, wrap your arm around me, and pour it down _slowly_!"

"No."

"Do it! Do it! Do it!" a crowd chanted, the loudest among them being Hungary.

"He _is_ the King," said Teddie.

"Of Northern Europe!" Denmark added.

"And the King's orders," said Yu.

"ARE ABSOLUTE!"

It had started when Norway got distracted trying to help his little brother and Cyprus defuse another brawl between Greece and Turkey, allowing Denmark to wander off. The Dane, in his drunken stupor, approached Yu thinking he was Iceland and challenged his "little bro" to a game, any one of his choosing. And it just so happened the Asian table had extra chopsticks.

"I _love_ this King's Game!" Hungary shouted, forcing Austria to distance himself from her.

"Yeah," said America. "Why've you been holding back on us, Japan? This game is great! I feel sorry for the guys who didn't decide to stay after the meeting!"

"Nooooorge~!"

"No," Norway said sternly. "I won't degrade myself to such an act."

"C'mon, Norja," said Finland. "I just had to call Mr. Swe _my_ _husband_! Eight times!" A faint smile appeared on Sweden's face as he said this. "And I still say you cheated on the numbers, Mr. Swe!"

"You don't want to _lose_ to Denmark, do you?" asked a naked France.

"I'm more surprised Romano was willing to strip you to win this stupid game."

"I won't lose before that potato bastard, damn it!" The Italian was furiously rubbing his hands in sanitizer.

"C'mon already!" exclaimed Prussia, now seemingly rejuvenated by the excitement of the game. "It's been fourteen rounds and no one's been eliminated yet!"

Norway hesitantly turned to Denmark, the Dane widely grinning and patting his lap. The Norwegian's grip on the bottle tightened as he opened it. He then stood in front of him with his back turned, letting himself fall and making sure it hurt the Dane as much as possible. Unfortunately for him, Denmark's sense of pain was long gone as he laughed and instructed Norway to continue.

"Almost there~!"

"_Denmark said wrap my arm around him_," Norway thought. "_Wrap can be synonymous with strangle." _

He seized the Dane's neck, forcing him to open his mouth. Then he shoved the bottle inside, refusing to let go until it was empty. When it was finally over, Norway tossed the bottle across the room and returned to his seat, taking a shot hoping it would help destroy this unpleasant memory.

"Hahaha! I love it when you play rough~!"

"Shut up."

"And Norway's still in!" Teddie announced. "Time for Round 16!"

The Shadow collected everyone's chopsticks, shuffled them, and held them out again with their marks hidden. Everyone drew their numbers and sat back down.

"Who's the king this time?!"

"Kesesesesese!"

A majority of the nations groaned when they heard that laugh.

"Finally! Someone who _truly_ deserves the title! And I order Number 23 to bow down and worship me, proclaiming my superiority!"

The nations waited for the unlucky victim, yet no one stepped forward.

"How many people are playing again?" asked Teddie.

"Twenty-seven," replied Germany.

"Then who has the red stick?"

"Oh, Señorita Hungría! What are you waiting for? Prussia's calling you!"

All eyes turned to the Hungarian who seemed frozen in place, clutching the "23" chopsticks with both hands. Austria was forced to shake her a little before she finally responded.

"No! No! No! I'd rather die than—I can't even say it!"

"No one is forcing you," said Austria. "Save your dignity if you must."

"I'm pretty sure everyone lost a piece of their dignity during Spain's round," said China. The Spaniard only laughed joyfully at this.

"O-Of course," Prussia said blushing, "this _does _mean you'll be the first one out..."

"So be it!" she said stepping outside the circle. "I never intended to win anyway."

"...And Prussia eliminates Hungary..." Teddie said awkwardly.

"Wow," said Romania, "and I thought one of us would end up eliminating the other..."

"Round 17!"

The game continued with a new rule added every fifth round due to the remaining nations simply being persistent and refusing to give up. Round 20 allowed orders for three people maximum. Round 25 added a second King. Round 30 extended orders to five people. Round 35 removed the numbers altogether. And only four people got eliminated: Naoto for refusing to let Turkey give her a belly dance, Cyprus for refusing to let the still-naked France "charm" him, Austria for refusing to allow Korea to establish ownership of his beauty mark, and Prussia who fell asleep from all the beer.

After reaching the forties, more people finally started dropping out, either from the alcohol or the increasingly embarrassing orders they were issued, the latter mostly due to eliminated contestants retrieving props and other items. By Round 60, only eight remained:

Yu, America, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Spain, China, and Thailand. The rest, if not passed out, eagerly watched on.

"I think I've had enough," said America. "England's gonna kill me once he finds out how much I drank today."

"I don't think so, hermano~" Spain said leaning on him. "It's not over until we say so!"

"Yeeeaaah," Finland said hiccuping. "This is—Hic! This is—We're almost done—Hic!—here, kyllä?"

"Roll the dice!" exclaimed Denmark.

"We're spinning a bottle now," said China. "_Thank you_, Korea, for breaking all of my chopsticks."

"Nyan~" purred Yu. During Round 47, the boy had actually agreed to be Greece's "new cat" for the rest of the game or his elimination, complete with a set of cat ears from Japan.

"Here we go~" Thailand said twisting his hand.

The bottle spun, soon landing on Greece.

"America," he said scratching Yu's head, "I'm particularly fond of having a cat on each side."

"Uh...I don't make a good house pet. I'm a _mess_!"

"That's _puuuuurfect~ _I love training naughty cats."

"Nope!" he exclaimed waving his arms. "No way! I give up!"

Spain wrapped his arm around the American. "The King's orders are absolute, America," he said coldly. "His subjects _must_ obey..."

"But choice is the point of the game!"

"What game? This is _real_!" He then shoved him to the ground and knelt before Greece. "Your new pet, Mighty Heracles."

"China! Please help me!"

"Why?" China asked raising an eyebrow. "I don't exactly _like_ you."

"Because you're the only sane one left!"

He smiled. "Thank you for the compliment. But I still don't have any reason to interfere."

"Forget what I said earlier, Japan! I hate this game!"

* * *

**King's Game Results:**

**(Name - Order refused/Status)**

**1. Finland - Winner**

**2. China - Beat Finland in a fight (Failed)**

**3. America - Eat reindeer**

**4. Spain - Passed out**

**5. Greece - Passed out**

**6. Denmark - Passed out**

**7. Yu - Passed out**

**8. Thailand - Passed out**

**9. Sweden - Divorce Finland**

**10. Turkey - Be Greece's cat**

**11. Korea - Staring contest with Sweden (Failed)**

**12. Romania - Passed out**

**13. Norway - Kiss Denmark**

**14. Romano - Cuddle with Spain**

**15. Veneziano - Passed out**

**16. Bulgaria - Allow Romania to bite him**

**17. Japan - Play naked for the next five rounds**

**18. Germany - Cross-dress**

**19. Teddie - Passed out**

**20. France - Knocked unconscious by Vietnam**

**21. Vietnam - Redress France (Failed)**

**22. Iceland - Arm wrestle America**

**23. Austria - Sign ownership of his mole to Korea  
**

**24. Prussia - Passed out**

**25. Cyprus - Be seduced by France  
**

**26. Naoto - Let Turkey give her a belly dance.**

**27. Hungary - Worship Prussia**


End file.
